District in Pictures
December 7, 2018
Bitmoji Heads Greet Zundy Elementary Students
When Zundy Elementary students walked up the sidewalk to school last Friday, they were greeted by two gigantic Bitmoji heads strapped to two excited bodies. The geniuses behind the unusual greeters were instructional coaches Casandra Cook and Monica Trevino. They stumbled onto the idea while searching for a Halloween costume. “We projected the (Bitmoji) image on the projector, traced it, painted it and put it on head straps, which was all trial-and-error,” said Ms. Cook. “But it worked out great! We came up with a bright idea to re-use the heads and greet kids on Friday morning with something fun and exciting. So we put on our heads and played some fun music. The kids were so excited and pumped up for school. Their smiles were priceless!” The two instructional coaches look forward to making more appearances in their Bitmoji heads.
Career Education Center Hosts 1,000 Students in 8th Grade Tours
Eighth graders begin their year journaling about careers they’d like to have. But you can journal only so long; eventually you need a face-to-face introduction to career opportunities. That’s where the 8th grade tours to the Career Education Center come in. Last week, the CEC hosted 400 Barwise Middle School students on Tuesday, 400 McNiel Middle School students on Wednesday and 200 Kirby Middle School students on Thursday. For many, it was the first time they had stepped into the building. “It is a long day, but each student rotated through 25 different career pathway options,” said CTE Coordinator Michelle Wood. “Some amazing student leaders took the lead on speaking to the students about the programs they were in.” Kirby Middle School students are pictured gathered on the CEC's Learning Stair.
Kirby Middle School Teacher Blows Up Pumpkin in the Name of Science
Kirby Middle School eighth-grade science teacher Gwenna Gallenberger isn’t afraid of a little explosion. Her lab, called, “Self-Carving Pumpkins,” teaches students that when you combine the chemical Calcium Carbide with water, it creates acetylene gas. “I pre-carve the pumpkins, put the Calcium Carbide rocks into a tray inside the pumpkin, add water, count to 30, then put an electronic torch inside a small hole in the back of the pumpkin, and click it on,” said Ms. Gallenberger. “As soon as the spark hits the acetylene gas...BOOM! It's awesome!”
'Title 1 Showcase' Demonstrates Title-funded Programs
The Every Student Succeeds Act requires WFISD’s Federal Programs Director Alefia Paris-Toulon to educate parents once a year on school programs that are funded with Title 1 money. Her presentation, held Wednesday at the Career Education Center, featured students and teachers from six campuses. Haynes Elementary students presented their Capturing Kids Hearts program. Rider High School first-year teachers explained the school’s mentor program. Hirschi High School students showed how Newsela is used on their campus. Barwise Middle School students demonstrated robotics projects. Lamar Elementary featured STEAM projects, and Wichita Falls High School students talked about Google Expeditions, a tool that uses virtual reality in lessons. Pictured clockwise from top left: Mrs. Paris-Toulon; Haynes pre-K student Davis Cargal introduces himself to Associate Superintendent Peter Griffiths; Barwise students program robots; Lamar 5th grader Alan Gonzalez uses Makey Makey to play a video game. District PIE partner, Which Wich, provided lunch for the event.
Architecture Program Welcomes Sponsor
Seven programs at the Career Education Center have so much community support that they’ve had a company sponsor them at an investment of up to $6,000 for the three-year sponsorship. Recently the Wichita Falls chapter of the American Institute of Architects (pictured here) presented the CEC Architecture lab with its $6,000 sponsorship. Eighty percent of the sponsorship will fund architecture supplies, certifications and class fees. The remaining 20 percent will go to the CEC, supporting other programs in similar ways. The sponsoring company receives a coordinating sign on the door of the sponsored lab (seen here) and several other perks.
Rider High School Freshman Recites FFA Creed in Spanish for Competition
Rider High School freshman Helen Melgar recited the FFA creed in Spanish for the Spanish Creed Contest, held at Midwestern State University, where she placed second in the District. She went on to compete in the area contest at Mineral Wells High School, held on the Monday of Thanksgiving break. She placed No. 3 out of 12 contestants.
Booker T. Washington Elementary Students Study Force and Motion with Egg Drop Project
Booker T. Washington 5th-graders in Janet Hughes’ science class studied force and motion in a fun way. They each built a contraption -- at home, using anything, even the trash -- to cushion an egg in a way that would hopefully protect it from breaking when Principal Mark Davis dropped it from the school rooftop. On Thursday, Mr. Davis dropped 23 egg projects to the sidewalk; five survived with eggs intact. Then Mr. Davis dropped the survivors from an even taller Booker T. rooftop. Two eggs stayed intact. One was packed all around with sponges; another egg was secured on a platform cushioned by balloons.
Fain Elementary Starts 'Fit Zone' with Planet Fitness Gift
Planet Fitness donated six exercise machines to Fain Elementary, including ellipticals, gliders and exercise bikes. That allowed teachers to create The Fit Zone, a place to inject exercise into the school day. They were motivated by their exposure to the book, Spark, by John J. Ratey, MD. Spark tells how exercise can improve a student’s academic performance and behavior. Here, Fain Principal Clarisa Richie (right) and a student start their day in The Fit Zone. Fain’s special education teachers also use the machines in the morning with many of their students. According to Spark: “The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance.”
McNiel Middle School and Wichita Falls Public Library Team Up
McNiel Middle School librarian Belinda Wolf (pictured) has collaborated with the Wichita Falls Public Library to create a pop-up library. Starting Jan. 14, 2019, the McNiel Library will serve as a pop-up branch of the Wichita Falls Public Library. Students will be able to pick up book selections and return them to the Wichita Falls Public Library at the McNiel school campus. To launch the pop-up library, librarians from the Wichita Falls Public Library will visit McNiel on January 11 to sign up students for library cards. Parents must be present for their student to receive a library card from the public library. Students will then have access to the Wichita Falls Public Library digital card catalog, where they will select McNiel Middle School as the checkout location. Requested books will be delivered to the McNiel Library and checked out to the student.
Rider High School AP Seminar Teams Compete to Build Tallest Tower -- in 20 Minutes
Before AP Seminar students tackled their first team research report, teacher Chris Preston assigned this spaghetti-and-marshmallow-tower challenge to foster an understanding of the importance of teamwork. He gave them 20 minutes to build a tower with spaghetti and marshmallows. When team members built at varying paces and the towers wouldn’t hold their shape, they learned they needed to divide work based on strengths. “For the Seminar Research Report, students will face a similar challenge,” said Mr. Preston. “Each member of the team is crucial for the project to be successful. If they want their tower of research to stand at the end of the timer, they must work together and lean on each others’ strengths.” Meanwhile, he said, the project was a lot of fun. Team “Almonds” claimed victory, with final height measuring 1.2 meters.
Homespun Christmas Stockings Bound for Lamar, Haynes Elementary Students
Amanda Awtrey, a former assistant principal at Milam Elementary, purchased 118 Christmas stockings from the Matilda Jane Clothing company and stuffed them with goodies. They will be distributed to pre-K and kindergarten classes at Haynes Northwest Academy and to kindergartners at Lamar Elementary. Stockings were stuffed with crayons, Kleenex, candy canes, Doritos, and other practical treats.
Cunningham Elementary Student Honored for Girl Scouts Community Service
The Optimist Club honored Cunningham student Hannah Miller for her outstanding community service performed through her Girl Scouts activities. She helped organize a food drive for the Trinity United Methodist Church Food Bank; she also organized a pet supply drive, rounding up food, leashes and collars for the Humane Society. To help purchase supplies for Girl Scout events, she has also been a top cookie seller for the past four years. The Girl Scout Council selected her to receive the Optimist award for going above and beyond in her leadership activities. She is the daughter of Cunningham teacher Katie Miller; she is pictured here with Wichita Falls Mayor Stephen Santellana.
Lamar Elementary Celebrates Staff Birthdays with Gift Card
At Lamar Elementary, staff birthdays are an opportunity to celebrate. Principal Amanda Garcia gives each staff member a gift card to Red Lobster on his or her special day. Ms. Garcia (right) is pictured here with Lamar art teacher Megan Halford (left), whose birthday was Thursday. “The staff enjoy a treat on their special day!” said Ms. Garcia.
Jefferson Elementary Students Crown Themselves Princes and Princesses
Fairy tales are fun to read, but they’re even more fun to experience. At Jefferson Elementary, Cindy Peterson’s kindergartners decorated and wore crowns as they learned about characters – and the many princes and princesses in their favorite fairy tales. When they read Hansel and Gretel, they learned about a story’s setting, then made the witch’s candy house out of a milk carton. They acted out The Three Billy Goats Gruff. “They loved becoming the characters in the story!” said Ms. Peterson.
Read 2 Learn Book Fair Ends Today
The 2nd Annual Read 2 Learn Book Fair provided fertile Christmas shopping ground for anyone passing through the Education Center this week. Pictured here, school board member Elizabeth Yeager (right) finished up Christmas shopping Wednesday afternoon at the Book Fair by purchasing specific books requested by Booker T. Washington Elementary teachers that they will put in special Christmas stockings.
Southern Hills Elementary Pre-K Visits Santa House
Pre-k students from Angela Smith’s classroom at Southern Hills Elementary visited Santa House this week. They met Santa, made cookies, and listened to a Christmas story.
Cunningham Elementary Finds Unique Way to Introduce Pineapple Professional Development
Cunningham Elementary is launching Pineapple Professional Development, an informal way for teachers to “pop in” to other classrooms to view fellow teachers doing great things. Principal Ashley Davis gave pineapple-shaped magnets to each teacher and served pineapple ice cream at the staff meeting when she introduced it. “If the pineapple magnet is outside their door, then anyone is free to come in and watch,” said Gena Ayers, assistant principal.
Crockett Elementary Students Build Christmas Quilts
Crockett Elementary fourth-graders have been focusing on community and family, so teacher Britney Prickett turned a writing project into quilts that the class could display in the hallways to represent their classroom families. “Students wrote about a gift they would like to give someone special in their life and explained why it would be meaningful to them. Then they decorated a coloring ‘patch’ of their choice,” said Ms. Prickett. The pieces were fit together into a quilt. The Classroom Essay Christmas Quilts are hanging at Crockett for all to see.
Kirby Middle School Trades Foreign Language for Coding in 'Hour of Code'
On Monday, Kirby Middle School students participated in The Hour of Code in their foreign language classes. This annual event takes place during Computer Science Education Week. Since all Kirby students take a foreign language, students learned coding as a language on this special day instead of French or Spanish. Students from Kirby's Computer Science Discoveries class acted as facilitators throughout the day to help students be successful with their programming projects. “It’s designed to demystify ‘code’ to show that anybody can learn the basics,” said Tami Davis, IBMYP coordinator at Hirschi High School and Kirby. The event successfully introduced coding to all Kirby students.
Fain Elementary Hosts House Celebration
At the beginning of the school year, Fain Elementary divided its campus into “Houses,” similar to the Houses in the Harry Potter book series. The House concept is also used at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. “We have used them to bring more community and family to our school,” said Principal Clarisa Richie. “We give points for projects like the food drive, pie sales, parent involvement, and meeting academic and behavior goals.” On Friday, the school hosted a House Celebration to congratulate students on various accomplishments. The “Courageous” House was the day’s winner.
Haynes Northwest Academy Students Create Rube Goldberg Machines
Students in Sheridan Woodward’s 5th grade class at Haynes Northwest Academy created Rube Goldberg machines to learn about force, energy transfers and simple machines. A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an over-complicated way. “The simple machines are linked together to produce a domino effect, with each device triggering the next one, and the original goal is achieved after many steps,” said Ms. Woodward. Students learned about pulleys, wheels and axles, levers, incline planes and the effect of force on an object. “Some students went above and beyond in their design while others kept it simple. We had many success stories,” said Ms. Woodward. “They each walked us through their design and taught the class about their simple machines. Students describe things to their peers in a different way than we, as their teachers, so it can create deeper understanding.”
Guarantee Title Provides Lamar Elementary with Washer/Dryer Set
What would a school do with the gift of a washer and dryer? Plenty! Guarantee Title, a PIE Partner for Lamar Elementary, purchased a washer and dryer for the school. WFISD’s Maintenance team hooked them up, and the washer and dryer have been working hard ever since. Every day, staff members complete two to three full loads of laundry so that all Lamar children can wear clean clothes.
Jefferson Elementary Students Write in Math Class, Too
Writing is just plain important. Even in math class, writing out the steps to show how to solve a problem helps a student clarify his thinking, says Jefferson 5th grade math teacher Kristin Howard. “I gave the students a problem. First, they solve the problem. Then they write as if they were a teacher, describing the process of solving the problem.” She assigns this task about once a week. “Allowing the students time to write about the process can help them see any mistakes they might be making,” she said.
Cunningham Elementary Pre-K Classes Decorate Gingerbread Houses
Here’s an unmistakable sign of Christmas: Classes are making gingerbread houses. Cunningham pre-K teacher Jessica Jacobs (left) and Assistant Principal Gena Ayers pose with Cunningham pre-K classes and their parents as they construct their houses with candy and icing. Participating classes belonged to Jessica Jacobs, Amanda Beck, Brandy Honeycutt, Deanna Draper, Pam Hill and Regina Campbell. Parents helped bring the supplies and were invited to participate with their child.
Rider High School Football Team Achieves 'Stunning Win,' Advances to State Semi-finals
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