Hornet Herald

We kicked off advisory by sorting each advisory into one of four houses, named after historical leaders associated with Kealing middle school

• Hurdle House, named after the first principal of Kealing, I.Q. Hurdle

• Hightower House, named after Hightower Theodore Kealing, our school's namesake and Black education advocate

• Delco House, named after Wilhelmina Delco, who served on the AISD school board and later served ten terms in the Texas Legislature where she ultimately became speaker pro tempore as the first woman and second African American to hold this powerful position in the Texas House of Representatives

• Wells-Spears House, named after Nelda Wells-Spears, who attended Kealing Junior High and served as the county's first African American tax accessor-collector.

The goal of the house system is to create a community of advisories within the whole school advisory program, inspire students to engage in advisory activities by competing for the Kealing House Cup! Each house developed their own mascot, cheer, and crest. Points were totaled from a variety of competitions and celebrations, from Kealing Trivia testing student knowledge on the history of Kealing to Homecoming Floats built out of recycled materials to the Monarch Butterfly projects, where every advisory had a chance to earn points simply by participating.

We are pleased to announce the first ever House Cup Winner is HIGHTOWER HOUSE, with Ms. Walker's advisory earning the most points from that house. The second overall advisory point earner was Ms. Horrell's and Ms. Riley's advisory representing Delco House. Congratulations to all who participated. You all made this year's advisory really fun, and we are excited to build on this new tradition next year.

Great evening fantastic families,

We finally made it to and through the finish line. Thank you all for a great school year which was full of ups and downs and through it all we still managed to create a GREAT learning experience for our scholars. I am truly appreciative of the support shown by this community this year. We worked together and stayed focused on what was best for our scholars. I wish you all an amazing summer and look forward to seeing those returning in the Fall.

Thank you for choosing Kealing Middle School and Austin ISD, feel free to reach out to me directly for any reason at all and if you have not done so already, please re-enroll your scholar by using the link above. jerald.wilson@austinisd.org

Kealing Middle School's yearbook, the Vespa, won three national awards for the 2021-2022 yearbook. What is particularly remarkable is they put this book together despite being off campus for the majority of that school year. Attached you will find pictures of some of last year's Vespa Staff as well as the last year's sponsor, Kristen Scott and the editor in chief, Adele Tversky (last image attached).

I think this is a really big deal-and would love for them to get some recognition for this accomplishment. Please let me know if you need the staff member's names. The theme for that year's book was "Kealing It" which in effect means--we are in pursuit of excellence and thriving despite the challenges.

• CSPA Gold Crown – Columbia Scholastic Press Association (national). Gold or Silver recognition. 12 middle schools were recognized. 8 Silver, 4 with Gold. Kealing earned gold. https://cspa.columbia.edu/recepient-lists/2022-awards-student-work-crown-awards-scholastic-recipients
• NSPA Pacemaker Finalist – National Scholastic Press Association (national). NSPA’s preeminent award. 13 MS finalists in the country, only 3 were winners. Kealing was a finalist. https://studentpress.org/nspa/2021-yearbook-pacemakers/
• ILPC Gold Star – Basically Yearbook UIL, through University of Texas. State-level recognition. Books are critiqued first, if they meet criteria are sent for star judging. This is only the second time Kealing has won a gold star. https://www.uiltexas.org/journalism/ilpc

thank you!

Jenna Martin

Social Studies Instructional Coach | Department Co-Chair

Student Council Sponsor | Ambassador Sponsor

Each year at Kealing, we connect the chosen theme for the yearbook to our whole school vision. It is present in professional development, t-shirts and door signs, advisory lessons, and more. Next year’s theme is ‘We Are Here.’ It embraces the idea of prospering in the present, celebrating the assets of our students, staff, and community, and fostering a sense of belonging for all Hornets. The challenges we've faced this year are not over, but it is time to thrive in the hive! As we explore this theme next year, we hope to connect more deeply with our parents/guardians and community members. Be on the lookout for more opportunities to join us on campus, learn together, and strengthen our partnerships in the service of our students.

This camp is for students who are interested in learning and mastering fundamental volleyball skills. Campers will participate in volleyball drills that focus on passing, setting, hitting, strategy and game play.
We hope you join us this summer for an exciting week of volleyball.

Date- July 25th-July 28th 2022 (Mon-Thurs)
Location- Kealing MS Gym 1607 Pennsylvania Ave Austin, TX 78702
Time- 8:30am -12:30 pm each day. Registration begins @ 8:00 am. on 1st day of camp
Cost- $ 75.00 per camper. (Scholarships are available if needed upon request)
Athletes will need to come dressed in athletic attire, and bring a water bottle
Campers will receive a camp T-shirt!!
**7th and 8th grade campers will need to bring an athletic physical that has been completed on the AISD athletic physical form.

Announcing Summer Reading Projects! We want all our Hornets to enjoy some reading over the summer! Please visit this site for all the details. Current 6th and 7th graders will also go over this information in their ELA classes soon. https://sites.google.com/austinisd.org/kealingacadsummerprojects

Nine teams were selected by Minecraft Education as Challenge Finalists and four of those received top honors. The top four Finalists ➢ Top Submission from Secondary Schools: Kealing Middle School’s Team Carbon-Eating Bats.

Nicholas Stauffer and Christopher Tschoepe were The Kealing Students involved, there was also a third student from Murchison Middle School.

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Twitter - @KTXHornets

Webpage - https://kealing.austinschools.org/