Panther Post
December 19th - 21th
Hello Lopez Families,
This is going to be a short week, but we have been so busy in a good way. Take a look below at all the amazing things going on at Lopez:
Students excelling:
- Earlier this month the band dominated the Regional Band Auditions landing 41 spots, which is incredible. They also performed with the Reagan band and sounded as if they were already in high school. They are that talented!
- Lopez Orchestra also placed over 40 students on Regionals. Very impressive!
- Our girl's 8th grade basketball team got to play the Bush Bulldogs at the beautiful Reagan gym. It was really exciting for them to play against Bush who will be their teammates when they get to high school. Reagan was a great host. (And we won big time!) (Picture below) This year the boys will not get that opportunity due to scheduling conflicts, but they will have a chance later to attend a high school game there and be recognized on the court. Should be fun.
- I got a chance to hear our choir perform and they are so talented. Their performance is a must see. I was astonished by it.
- Our speech and debate teams did really well last weekend. Our theater students won the sweepstakes and our debate students excelled as well. It is a long day and a lot of things going on at once, but our kids really persevere and come out on top. (Picture below)
Other accomplishments:
- Our PTA presented lifetime membership awards during the week to Mona Kemper, Julie Neer, Katie Brown, and me! Thank you PTA. (Picture below)
- Lopez was approved to have a dual language program for next year with about 40 students coming from Vineyard Ranch and some other schools. It is a really neat program and I can't wait to have it here.
- Lopez will also be named one of the two schools in the city to pilot a high school credit computer science class next year. Congressman Will Hurd began the initiative and invited us to his announcement speech downtown. Four of our students went and were recognized (Samuel Lackey, Renzo Robles, Matthew Kim and Andrea Connor). Andrea gave a speech in front of the Congressman, the County Commissioner, business executives and superintendents from across the city. She wowed every one of them. I was so proud. (Picture below). Here is a news link of the event.
- Another really cool thing happened at Lopez that you might have seen on the news. One of our students was surprised by his father returning from duty in Afghanistan. This is something you should see, take a look here.
Giving back:
- If your kids are getting bikes over the break and you have one to get rid of, check out the Hardy Oak Bike Drive information below. A great idea!
- Giving Tree update - it was incredibly successful. Our goal was to sell over 500 leaves which would have completed a make-over for a pediatric oncology hospital room. We sold 1521!!! Enough to do 3 rooms!
- We also had a book fair to raise money for the library. I had promised to wear a pirate outfit if we raised over $4000. Well...(picture below) I had a lot of fun!
- We are on our last push for our 8th grade Scholastic PJ drive. For each set of pjs we collect, scholastic will donate a free book so that recipients receive two things. We have a target number of requests, and as of right now, we are short. The drive has been extended to next Wednesday. We are accepting pjs of all sizes, but specific sizes have been requested by Wyatt's Way, a local charity. Requested sizes are: 3 women's XL, 1 woman's small, 2 girl's youth small, 3 mens' large, 2 men's small, 1 girl's 14/16.
School course scheduling:
- The Reagan Electives Fair will be January 26th for our 8th graders to go check out. I will send out their flier when we return from the break. 8th Graders will also be going up to Reagan during the day on January 11th.
- Our parent meeting night for course selection will be on January 17th and our Electives Fair will be on January 24th.
- Course cards will go out January 18th and they will be due on January 27th.
Leader In Me:
- Synergy- Lopez Artists in Mrs. Volz classroom will be creating an interactive piece of art. To prepare for the project we need cotton t-shirts. We are asking for Lopez parents/students to donate cotton t-shirts. No need to buy new ones we will take ones you are planning on donating or tossing. Please send the t-shirts to school this and at the beginning of January. Thank you for supporting our Panther Artists.
- Check out the 7 Habits resources for families December newsletter below.
Sincerely,
Mr. Wernli
This Week's Activities
Mon Dec 19, 2016
All day - LMS EXAM- 2nd Nine Weeks
7:45am – 8:10am - FCCLA Officer Meeting - D-202
7:45am – 8:15am - Academic UIL Coaching
3:30pm – 4:15pm - Star vs Forces of Evil Club - A-203
3:30pm – 4:30pm - Fashion Club Meetings - D-202
6:30pm – 8:30pm - Orchestra 7th & 8th grade Concert - Cafe
Tue Dec 20, 2016
All day - LMS EXAM- 2nd Nine Weeks
7:45am – 8:15am - Academic UIL Coaching
10:48am – 12:56pm - Tech Tuesday - Library
6:00pm – 7:00pm - Honors Orchestra - San Antonio Zoo, 3903 N St Mary's St, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA
6:00pm – 8:30pm - Band Holiday Concert - Cafe
Wed Dec 21, 2016
All day - LMS EXAM- 2nd Nine Weeks
7:00am – 7:45am - FCA Morning Meetings - Cafeteria
7:45am – 8:10am - Wednesday Walkers - Track
7:45am – 8:15am - Academic UIL Coaching
Thursday Dec 22, 2016 - Wednesday Jan 4, 2017
Winter Break
Help With Homework? We're at Your Assistance!
Service Hours
Lopez families,
Lopez Panthers should be tracking their service hours. The hours should be tracked in their Leader in Me binder on the service hour log page. They may also track their hours for the PVSA awards website. This consists of time they spend in any type of volunteer role - at school or on their own. This will help them reach their personal goal and will help Lopez complete their school-wide important goal of 10,000 service hours this year.
Instructions on how to enter your service hours can be found at: https://snapguide.com/guides/log-presidents-volunteer-service-award-hours/.
The site for actually putting in your hours is: http://presidentialserviceawards.gov.
Send us a picture of your child in his/her service role and we will display it on a celebrations wall! mvolz@neisd.net or ftobac@neisd.net
We can't wait to see the great ways our Lopez Panthers Serve!