THE PIRATE TREASURE
March 10, 2022
MIDDLE
Pine Tree Middle School Pirates are celebrating our 6th Grade Texas Math Science Team for winning the regional meet last week. Coach Michelle Randall had many students qualify for the state meet.
We are very proud of the following students headed to state! 6th graders are: Alex Rios, Amy Orona, Bryan Jimenez, Clara Tesser, Levi Walker, Gabriel Cabudoy, Josiel Hernandez, Mauro Gonzalez, and Raiden Gaw.
The 5th Grade CEER Academy students have been working on a play for their drama unit. They will present the play March 11 at 2:45 p.m. at the Pine Tree Middle School Cafeteria.
As time is counting down to our STAAR testing, many teachers are using innovative ways to review the TEKs and give a focus of things to study over the coming spring break. Mrs. Kyle’s classes are ramping up their reviews of literary elements.
PARKWAY ELEMENTARY
Therapy Dogs
Parkway is so fortunate to have some wonderful new volunteers! Doyle and Sissy Lawhorn and their therapy dogs, Jozie and Lily, and Belinda Chapman and her therapy dog, Daisy, have added Parkway to their list of regular stops.
Jozie, Lily, and Daisy are internationally certified therapy dogs with a heart for children and people with disabilities. In addition to volunteering at local nursing homes, hospitals, and other schools, this caring trio comes to Parkway every couple of weeks to visit students, encourage them to read, and snuggle up while students read to them.
Smiles abound when students and teachers spot Jozie, Lily, and Daisy on campus. The Lawhorns and Mrs. Chapman agree that their precious pups love and benefit from their visits as much as we do!
Dr. Seuss Parade
Our wonderful students and staff participated last week in our annual Dr. Seuss Parade. Everyone found their favorite book from Dr. Seuss and made it come to life. We saw so much creativity come to life when our students and staff walked the halls of Parkway! It was an amazing time to see all the smiles of our Pack family!
Glow Party
Our Parkway Pack has great readers! On Thursday, March 3, our campus had a glow Accelerated Reader party in the gym. If a student reached their AR goal for the 3rd nine weeks they got to enjoy a BIG glow party in the gym. If an entire class met their AR goal, they received a glow stick to take with them to the party. There were door prizes, dancing, games, and just a fun time to enjoy with their friends. Way to work HARD Parkway Pack!
JUNIOR HIGH
PTJH is in the full swing of spring! Students, teachers, and staff are all working hard to get to their well deserved break next week, and our Pirates are busy with everything from benchmark tests to track meets to TAME competitions to cheer tryouts!
The PTISD Black History Month Program was inspirational, informative, and entertaining. We are extremely proud of all participants, especially our PTJH Pirates that represented the district well through a poetry recital and a fantastic basketball performance!
The coaches and student athletes of the Pirate and Lady Pirate Track and Field teams kicked off their competition season with a great showing at the Pine Tree Jr High Relays. The 7th and 8th grade Boys teams each captured the Meet Championship, while the 7th and 8th grade Girls teams both finished in second place!
The Pirate Math Science Team traveled to Queen City for the Texas Math Science Coaches Association Regional Competition and dominated the results, winning the Regional Championship! Many students qualified to represent PTISD at the State Championship Meet in April, and they are working hard to build on last year’s impressive performance placing 5th in the State. Go Pirates!
#PTJHRocks
PRIMARY - SAVE THE DATE!
BIRCH ELEMENTARY
Birch First Spring Book Fair-The Birch Spring Book Fair provided an exhilarating experience for our teachers, students, families, and community members to shop for exciting reading materials. Our campus hosted spectacular events such as “The Grand Lunch Event” which allowed grandparents and other grand persons to shop with their Birch First student. In addition, we held a Spring Book Fair Family Night and “We Love Our Teachers Wednesday” lunch event which allowed families to purchase a book for their favorite teacher’s classroom library. Because of the support of this annual event, our Birch First students benefit from new library materials and thrilling adventures.
Genius Hour-There is only one location where students can find experts demonstrating gymnastics skills, devouring delicious treats they baked themselves, practicing casting fishing rods without water, and learning how to repair bike tires independently. These are just a few of the spectacular lessons that our students took part in during our March Genius Hour. With 31 various clubs for our students to choose from, there is definitely something for everyone!
Seusstastical Parade-Each year at Birch Elementary the halls fill with delightful characters from the world renowned Dr. Seuss tales. On March 2nd, our fearless librarian led several Thing One’s and Thing Two’s, Cindy Lou Who’s, Grinches, and MORE through the campus as students shrieked with joy. Parents clapped with pride as we celebrated the creativity of this stupendous author and his influence in children’s literature. Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
120th Day of School-Every day at Birch Elementary is packed with learning, smiles, hands-on experiences, growth, and relationship building amongst students and staff. Attending school at the BFF for 120 days is such an enjoyable and beneficial experience, that we just HAD to celebrate that accomplishment! Our precious first grade students and teachers adorned adorable shirts with 120 items on them and dressed as 120 year old people to recognize this special day!
2nd grade Disney Spectacular program-Disney World may be known as the Happiest Place on Earth, but Birch Elementary School is giving that famous theme park some serious competition! Ms. Teresa Meadows, Birch Music Teacher, led the second grade students in singing and dancing to sensational Disney tunes during our 2nd grade Disney Spectacular program. Birch Elementary School is blessed to have Ms. Meadows as she makes it a daily goal to build confidence in our students through the power of music.
Pirates and Students of the Month
Congratulations to our February Pirates and Students of the Month:
Daniel Olvera, Skye Hall, Ledarian Pickron, Yuilanna Gomez, Gwendolyn Trevino, Samantha Baker, Alejandro Monreal, and Xander Smith.
EXCEL
ExCel High School would like to acknowledge and celebrate our Pirate of the Month for February, Kyra Herrera. Kyra is a student that High School principal, Mr. Wadley, would respectfully refer to as a "beast" when it comes to her schoolwork as she has proven to be extremely determined and focused to be successful and get the job done.
Our lead teacher, Mrs. Jones, describes Kyra as a kind-hearted, shy and determined young lady. Kyra has only been at ExCEL for a short period of time. She came to ExCEL at the beginning of the second semester and in just a relatively short period of time, she has already earned 3.5 credits! campus. She has now set her sights on a goal of graduating this year-a year ahead of time.
Kyra describes herself as goofy and quiet. To relieve her stress, she enjoys working out which usually consists of jogging. After graduation, Kyra plans to attend college to become a nurse. The teachers and staff at ExCEL really appreciate Kyra and the example she is setting and wish her the best in all her future endeavors.
PACE
PACE Supports Parkway Elementary during Genius Hour
On Friday, March 4, PACE Staff and select students were chosen to support Mrs. Jennifer Schroeder during Genius Hour at Parkway Elementary School. These student leaders engaged Parkway students through social skills and play to build healthier minds and bodies. PACE students in turn built greater empathy and leadership skills.
PACE STRONG
“Self-respect permeates every area of your life!” ~ Principal Joe Clark
Principal Adams meets weekly with the young ladies at PACE for STRONG Sessions that are designed to help their self-awareness/respect, build their self-confidence, and assist them in learning how to set realistic and attainable goals for their future. They learn leadership skills and empathy through PACE Project; such as our Project Valentine, where the young ladies made and delivered Valentine’s Day cards to Pine Tree Lodge Assisted Living Facility on Pine Tree Road in February.
Congratulations to PACE Alternative Campus Principal Mrs. Shalonda Adams for being a 2022 recipient of the Pine Tree ISD Black History Month Legacy Award.
HIGH SCHOOL
SPRING BREAK ARRIVES AT PINE TREE
It seems like school just got started yet, here at Pine Tree High School it is time for Spring Break. Students, teachers and administrators are all looking forward to a week off and then eight weeks until this school year is over.
This past week, several hundred students, took the SAT test at Maude Cobb under the supervision of administrators, and it was a success for all involved. Students can now look forward to using those scores to get into college and earn scholarships.
The cheerleaders held tryouts for the 2022-2023 school year and named 14 to the varsity and six to the junior varsity for the coming fall. They held a pinning ceremony Monday morning in the library, then fitted for cheer gear that afternoon and then held a parent meeting to kick off the new year on Wednesday. Taylor Fogle is the cheer sponsor for Pine Tree.
STAAR testing is just around the corner for a host of Pine Tree students. Teachers and students are finishing work now that will help them be better prepared when those tests arrive. Counselors are also meeting with students to set their class schedules for next school year as well.
One Act Play came very close to advancing to regionals by presenting an excellent performance.
Choir and band are still in competitions, while a host of sports are underway. Baseball played in Kilgore this past weekend, while softball was in a tournament in Carthage and tennis was in a tournament as well. Soccer is finishing this next week but will have the playoffs in front of them, and track has three or four more meets until district in April.
Seniors are excited about graduation, and end of the year activities are now finally coming to fruition for them. Prom will be April 2 at Pinecrest Country Club, while senior walk and senior picnic dates are still being determined. All of that leads to graduation on May 26 at Pirate Stadium.
But for now, everyone is going to pause and catch their breath so they are ready for the final run to the end of school. Enjoy the week, Pirates and parents! It is going to be very busy between now and the end of May.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Frank Richards, President
Adam Graves, Vice President
Jim Cerrato, Secretary
Aaron Klein
Dr. Melanie Roudkovski
Mike Smith
Drew Seidel
Steve Clugston, Superintendent
PINE TREE ISD
Email: info@ptisd.org
Website: www.ptisd.org
Location: 1701 Pine Tree Road, Longview, TX, USA
Phone: 903-295-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/PTISD
Twitter: @PTISD