Welcome back to the GMSD neighborhood! We ended last week with several teams and young athletes headed to the state competition. Congratulations to our Houston High School Silver and Black squads who walked away as Champions with bids to national competition this spring. Both the large and small Cheerleader teams from Riverdale and Houston Middle School also received bids to the National UCA championship.

Walking away from Regionals with 2nd place in Pom, 4th in Game Day, and the Best Costume Award, our Houston High Varsity Pom Team gave amazing performances. Our Houston Middle School Pom Team was named the UDA Regional Hip Hop Champions. A special thanks to all those who attended the Cheer/Dance Show Night to cheer on our teams as they headed into the state competition this weekend.

This weekend at the state championship:

• Houston High School JV Cheer Team took first place.
• Houston Middle School Small Team won the Small Junior High - West Division and are also State Champions.
• Our Large Junior High Team (Riverdale and Houston team) was the runner up in the Large Junior High-West Division.
• Houston Middle School Pom were named Hip Hop State Champions.

Jason Manuel,

Superintendent

Two additional teams getting a celebratory send off to their state competition include the HHS boys and girls varsity track and cross country. Both teams were recently named regional champions. See your newsletter for some of the impressive individual triumphs.

Girls XC placed 6 runners in the Top 8

1 Zoe Marsh

2 Gracey Owens

3 Lindsey Barnes

4 Ava Stockdale

7 Nora Newhouse

8 Emma Thweatt

Boys XC placed 5 runners in Top 15

1 Hays Adams

8 Trevor Hodgson

11 Thomas Dickinson

12 William Lloyd

15 Caden Meeks

At the state championship over the weekend, Houston Girls Cross Country took third place.

Meanwhile, our football teams at Houston Middle and Houston High School headed into the finals. Houston High School pulled off an impressive 27-10 win against Independence and will face off with crosstown rivals, Germantown High School for its next game.

Our favorite photo from the week, though, is these Houston Middle School teachers who followed their 7th grade football team to their finals @MUS. The tagline: Win or lose, we’re always proud of our Mustangs!

Next week please remember that there is no school for students on Tuesday, November 8th. Are you getting out to vote? Look for our Houston High School government students who are conducting live exit polls. Results of their polling will be broadcast live on GMTV during the election day. GMTV can be found on Youtube, Comcast channel 17 and U-verse channel 99.

Do you know a Veteran? Consider sharing information coming from many of our schools to help them celebrate Veterans Day on Friday. GMSD is looking forward to student performances, special assemblies, and parades honoring our Veterans. See below for a full lineup of events and links to register participants.

The September Youth Excellence Award was presented to Logan Wu, a senior at Houston High School. Logan's teachers describe him as a "diligent and hardworking student who demonstrates great initiative and motivation," as well as "very respectful and a joy to have in class." He has consistently challenged himself with demanding coursework and consequently will be the only student who will graduate this year with 17 credits in AP courses. This year, Logan is recognized as a National Merit Semi-Finalist. He is also on track to graduate with an AP Capstone Diploma.

Logan has been playing chess competitively since the age of 5. He is a five-time National Champion and a World Youth Chess Champion, tying for 10th place during the 2019 tournament in Mumbai, India. He has qualified nine times to represent the U.S. in the World Championship. Logan has shared these talents with other Houston High students as co-president of the Chess Club, planning tournaments and organizing events. Additionally, during the pandemic when tournaments were put on pause, Logan and his parents founded the Pawn2Queen Chess Academy, helping even more students stay connected to chess by providing free lectures for students at local libraries and parks and teaching weekly chess classes.

Logan is also musically gifted. He began playing the piano at age 4 and learned how to play the violin in middle school. He is a member of the Houston Honors Orchestra, where he has formed great relationships and learned a lot about teamwork.

Logan's extensive experience in music and chess, combined with support from his family and teachers, have allowed him to serve and contribute significantly to our community. According to one nominator, "Logan is always positive and a great role model to many." Because of his many chess travels, he has had the distinctive opportunity to meet all types of people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Due to his many adventures, Logan has excellent critical thinking skills, understands that courage is required to take risks, knows how to accept failures, learns from his mistakes and, most of all, knows how to work hard and never give up.

The BRACE art contest is a regional art competition that garnered submissions from nearly 50 schools in the Midsouth. Over 300 excellent works of drawing, painting, and collaging were adjudicated.

Many GMSD visual artists won awards at the annual BRACE art awards, including first place wins for Celia Claire Schmitt (RES), Rachel Yan (HMS), second place victories for Alma Oswald (DES), Waverly McKinley (RES), Grace Ding (FES). See the full lineup below:

Kindergarten

Riverdale Elementary School, Celia Claire Schmitt, 1st Place

Riverdale Elementary School, Madison Roundy, Honorable Mention

1st Grade

Dogwood Elementary School, Alma Oswald, 2nd Place

Farmington Elementary School, Bennett Stabley (pictured above), Honorable Mention

2nd Grade

Riverdale Elementary School, Waverly McKinley, 2nd Place

Riverdale Elementary School, Cady Tinsley, 4th Place

Farmington Elementary School, Abigail Draughon, Honorable Mention

3rd Grade

Farmington Elementary School, Hamza Akram, 4th Place

4th Grade

Farmington Elementary School, Grace Ding, 2nd Place

Dogwood Elementary School, Emerson McCann, 3rd Place

Riverdale Elementary School, Sophie McKinley, Honorable Mention

5th Grade

Riverdale Elementary School, Harper Malahy, 3rd Place

7th Grade

Houston Middle School, Subin Yang, Honorable Mention

8th Grade

Houston Middle School, Rachel Yan, 1st Place

Riverdale School, Felix Smoldas, Hnorable Mention

Also, check out some Frida Kahlo inspired self portraits coming from Houston High School’s Art II students.

UPDATE:

DUE TO REHEARSAL SCHEDULE CHANGES THIS WEEK, WE ARE CANCELLING OUR FRIDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCE. Instead, come out Sat at 2:30 or 7pm, Sun at 2:30 or Mon at 7 pm to see Much Ado About Nothing. Tickets are $10 students/$15 adults. We take cash and cards at the door. Did you buy Friday night tickets on go fan? Email us at hhstheatrebooster@gmail.com. Thank you!

The September Teacher of the Month was awarded to Cathy Young, who started her new role as the Instructional Technology Coach at Houston High School this week. Ms. Young is an outstanding educator with a long career of placing her students' academic, social and emotional needs at the heart of all that she does. She previously served as a middle school teacher at Riverdale School.

Many nominators for this award commended her for the fact that she works tirelessly on her lesson plans and student activities until they are perfect, and she sets high expectations that her students can achieve. During her 17 years at Riverdale, her ELA, math, science and social studies classes have challenged students to the limit and fully prepared them for the rigorous high school years ahead. In addition, according to one nominator, "her classroom environment provides a place where students can feel safe."

Ms. Young goes out of her way to ensure that her lessons are fun and engaging while also helping her students mature and thrive. One nominating parent writes "I am very fortunate that my son was able to have Ms. Young for STEM last school year. She really encourages her students to think outside the box and work with groups. I feel like my son learned so much but was also seen and taken care of by Ms. Young. To know that your teacher cares about you makes such a difference in the lives of these young students."

"I would like to give a glowing shoutout to my daughter’s teacher, Mr. Boyer. Mr. Boyer goes above and beyond. I know he has probably a hundred other students, but he takes the time to not only make sure my daughter does well academically, but also physically and emotionally throughout the day.

As a parent, I am extremely happy my daughter has a teacher like Mr. Boyer in her corner while she’s at school each day. Shoutout to Mr. Boyer for being an outstanding educator!"

Our Staff Profile this week also took us to Riverdale School to spotlight School Psychologist Christine Hingle. GMSD has enjoyed highlighting the extraordinary work of our school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists.