The Bottom Line
Alice ISD School Board Newsletter April 2022
Alice ISD
“Our Kids...Our Future” EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE!
Website: aliceisd.net
Location: 2 Coyote Trail, Alice, TX, USA
Phone: 361-664-0981
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceISD
Congratulations to Jim Erck for serving 50 years
Arts Department Update
Art Division
● Currently on exhibit in the 400 Wing Gallery of Alice High School is the senior exhibit of Celeste Torres. Her show is titled “My Relationship with God.” She has rendered, as part of her A.P. Sustained Investigation, twenty paintings featuring self-portraits, symbolic iconography, and her unique visual “code” which represents her spirituality as she relates to God and to others. This exhibit runs until May 2nd.
● The center gallery features a fully functioning marionette doll created out of ceramic clay and finished with paint and felt by Art III student Crystal Uresti. Crystal drew her concept sketch and then set out to create the doll. It is a fascinating artwork that is both charming and captivating.
● Art II students are currently working on large-scale food studies. So far the students have painted huge strawberries, halved avocados, and giant slices of pizza. “Hungry Yet?” is the name of the campaign. These works go on exhibit during the second week of April.
● Some students have elected to create papier-mache’ sculptures as part of a choice-based curriculum. These sculptures include cats, horses, dogs, and sea creatures. The finished works will be covered entirely with found objects in an all-over textural design.
● We will celebrate Earth Day on April 22 by going outside to create ephemeral earthworks with the art of Andy Goldsworthy as our inspiration. These sculptures will be photographed and placed on exhibit in May.
Choral Division
● The Choral Divison recently performed at the UIL Region 14 Concert & Sight-Reading Evaluation.
○ Middle School Treble Choir earned an Excellent Rating on Stage and Straight 1s in Sight-Reading
○ High School Mixed Choir earned a UIL Sweepstakes Award by earning straight 1s on
stage, and straight 1s in Sight-Reading
■ This was the first time in 18 years that the choir has earned this award.
● The Choral Division is currently preparing for its spring concert and the Texas State Solo and Ensemble competition in May.
Theater Division
● At the beginning of March, Coyote Theatre competed in One Act Play competition. While we did not advance our students received a great deal of praise for their design work.
● Lennon Trevino was selected for the Honor crew and Sofia Sanchez received All-Star Cast Honorable Mention recognition.
● Our UIL Design students competed as well and one student missed going to state by 3 points.
● We have begun production on our spring show “Law & Order Fairy Tale Unit” which will include a couple of our 8th-grade theatre students from WAMS.
Dance Division
● Dance Classes are working on student choreography to present at our 1st Spring Dance Show Case on Friday, May 6th.
● Strutters Dance Team is preparing for their 2nd Annual Spring Show on Friday, April 29th.
Athletic Department Update
Middle School Swim: We are currently in the last week of Middle School Swim. We have 37 kids going to the district meet tomorrow to compete in TM. Recently we swam at FB where the boys placed 1st beating FB for the first time. The boy's team has swimmers currently swimming at a High school level pace. We continue to have help from the high school swim team members assisting with the progress being made this middle school season.
Hoping to end the season with a win tomorrow!
High School Golf: The 2021-2022 golf season has come to an end. We had our district tournament on March 28th & 29th. The boys placed fourth in the district behind Kingsville, Calallen, and Zapata. The boys made great improvements throughout the year and finished strong. The boy's team consisted of 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 2 juniors, and 1 senior. The top performer in the district meet was freshman Karlo Gonzalez (79, 91). Unfortunately, he missed qualifying by 5 shots. As for the girls, Deandra Ybarra and Aliana Silva finished the year strong. The future is definitely bright for the golf teams in the next few years.
Girls Soccer: The Lady Coyote Soccer team finished 3 pts. short of having a play in Match against 4th place Ingleside. The soccer team did a great job ensuring that they would get up to play against every team in a very tough district which includes Calallen and Santa Gertrudis who are still in the playoffs. We have started the off-season program and are expecting good things out of the younger athletes. They have been attacking the circuit training with tremendous enthusiasm preparing for next year. We have also been working on creating a culture of family and unity to ensure that we are all working for a common goal. We will continue working throughout the month of April and as May rolls around we will work on soccer technical skills.
Boys Soccer: The 2022 Boys Soccer season has come to an end. The program had another good year with the Varsity finishing 2nd in the district and making the playoff for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, the Coyotes lost a heartbreaker to Pharr Vanguard in the Bi-District round 3-2. The Coyotes finished the year with a 17-4-1 record. Also, the JV squad had a good year as well. They won the district for a second straight season. Now, the Coyotes soccer program enters the off-season phase to prepare for a great 2023 season.
High School Powerlifting: The 2022 Alice Power Lifting season is over, but we still have kids coming in after school on their own time for the off-season. 2022 was an exciting year. We had 9 Regional Qualifiers total and 1 State Qualifier. There were 0 Regional Qualifiers who participate in any other sports. All 9 are in either band or theatre or both, so powerlifting is turning out to be a great opportunity for students who don’t normally get to use our Powerhouse to get in there and experience some athletic success. The importance of the meaningful work being done and life-long habits and lessons learned can’t be overemphasized. All but two 2022 Regional Qualifiers are coming back next year.
High School Tennis: Last week on March 28 we had our freshman/ JV district tourney, My Jv Girls Doubles took the 3rd place medal. On March 30th I took my varsity to Zapata we didn't place but my kids did their best. They came across the number 1 seeds who actually ended up winning the tournament. Tennis season is over now for the year, but I'm going to continue to have practices twice a week which will start next week. We will be going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 430 to 6 pm WAMS. I will be having my kids on the team play each other matches for rankings on the team for next year. I'm also wanting to have a tennis camp this summer around July to bring new kids like at the elementary schools and older kids at WAMS and the high school. I have around 12 kids that will be coming back next year and hope to be adding more. We are rebuilding and it will take some time. I know we will continue to work hard.
High School Softball: The Lady Coyotes are currently tied for 2nd place in district with a record of 4-2. They are also currently ranked #17 in state with an overall record of 20-6, which is one of the best records the program has ever had. The Lady Coyotes beat Robstown 4-2 Tuesday night in a must-win game and will be on the road Friday to face Zapata in a crucial game. The girls have been working very hard and are ready for this second round of district.
High School Baseball: The Coyotes have hosted two important recognition nights at the baseball complex. On 3/22, The Coyote Baseball Community recognized first responders from The City of Alice and Jim Wells County. Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch was the fire chief, Jim Wells County sheriff, and the second in command for Alice Police Department. The event was sponsored by Stars Drive-In. Prior to the 4/1 game against Tuloso-Midway, Chicken Express and The Alice Baseball Family recognized US Military Veterans. Former VFW Post Commander, Hector Villarreal threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Whataburger will sponsor our final community night with an “Orange Out” theme on Senior - 2022 night. Additional special guests will be announced as details are confirmed. It is hard to believe there are only five district games remaining in the 2022 campaign. This youthful team has come a long way since the start of the season. Young players have filled major roles in arguably one of the best 4A districts in the region. We anticipate a competitive finish in the district race as we make a strong push forward to secure a playoff spot. The community has shown up and packed the stands for all home games and supported our young men with positive energy, a loud presence, and extreme COYOTE PRIDE!
High School Girls Track: Girls Track & Field is off to a great start. We competed at GP Wildcat Relays and Ingleside Mustang Relays so far and has placed 1st in the sprint relay and mile relay. Our girls are looking strong and early season times are looking SPEEDY! Looking forward to competing in Calallen this Thursday, March 3rd, and Flour Bluff on March 11th. A big goal right now is to have qualifying times to compete at the University of Texas - Texas Relays, which is the biggest high school track meet in Texas, and also the location of the State Championships meet. Girls to look out for are our relay studs: Jr. Kendall Leal, Sr. Haley Salinas, Fr. Brooke Castillo, Fr. Victoria Diaz, So. Kristin Neal, Sr. Summer Soliz, Sr, Daniella Contreras, Fr. Liana Garcia, and Sr. Madison Valdez. The girls are excited about the success we have had and are preparing vigorously for the district track meet on April 13th and 14th, which will be held at Calallen this year.
High School Boys Track: The boy's track team has had a busy March, competing at the Wildcat Relays in Calallen, the Intracoastal Relays in Flour Bluff and the Chatter Allen relays in Corpus Christi. We have been holding our own competing against some tough competition from the 5A & 6A levels in hopes of better preparing ourselves for the district meet. We hosted 13 teams on April 1st for the Hub City Relays. The boys competed well, however, adversity hit our relays. Our 4x100 team was in first place coming into the last exchange and dropped the baton. It was a great opportunity to coach these young men to keep their heads up. We want to have the “windshield” mentality because what is in front of us is always more important than what is behind us. That is why your windshield is so much bigger than your rearview mirror. We were unable to run the 4x200 relay because two of our legs also compete in baseball and needed to get to the baseball field to prepare for a district game. We did redeem ourselves by winning the 4x400 relay to end the meet. I am extremely excited about our JV team. Through hard work and resilience, they were able to win the Hub City relay JV division. We have also had a few junior varsity boys prove themselves and are now running and competing at the varsity level. The boys are excited about the success we have had and are preparing vigorously for the district track meet on April 13th and 14th, which will be held at Calallen this year.
Monthly Action Items
Approval of Textbook Adoption for 2022-2023
Approval of Entrance Security Vestibules for all Elementaries
The Board of Trustees approved the Entrance Security Vestibules for Noonan, Saenz and Schallert Elementary Schools. The entrance will add a second holding area before an individual can enter the school thus adding more safety measures to each school. The funds are part of the 2019 Bond.
Dubose Elementary was not on the list because they already have a built-in vestibule.
Approval of ESSER Projects Construction
Increase of Summer School Hourly Wages
Approval of 2023 Suburban
Alice ISD will be purchasing a 2023 Suburban for the Special Education Department after the board approved it.
Lastly, the board approved the District of Innovation amendment in order to allow for more flexibility for teachers who are working on their certifications.
Mark your Calendar!
Alice ISD is hosting a District-wide Wellness Family Fun Walk on Friday, April 29 starting at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Free to everyone. Community invited. Come out and have some fun with DJ music, healthy snacks, and lots of fun. #weareAliceISD!