JMQ Flash
Summer Edition
GOOD THINGS
Stephanie Emerine
Stephanie is moving to Hallsville from Seminole ISD in west Texas. Stephanie joins our fifth-grade team. Stephanie has taught math in both 7th and 5th grades. We are thrilled to have her in East Texas and at JMQ!
Lauren McCoy
Lauren has taught sixth grade ELA in Hallsville for two years. She is a Henderson native who is now living in White Oak. Lauren will complete her Master's in Reading at SFA by the end of the summer. Lauren joins the 5th grade team.
Christy Butler
Christy comes to us from Bell Elementary in Tyler with previous experience in Jacksonville. She joins our 4th grade team. Christy is passionate about creating experiential learning activities in the classroom for her students.
Elyse Peterson
No newcomer to LISD or to Johnston-McQueen, Elyse hails from Bramlette. She has known for a long time how awesome JMQ is because her son, Jace, is a student here. Elyse has taught summer school at Johnston-McQueen the last two summers, and she is buckled in and ready to blast off with her new 2nd grade team!
Rebecka Jenkins
Becka is a relatively new teacher, and she is passionate about reading. She looks forward to inspiring her students and their parents to get excited about books and about reading! I taught her younger sister in 5th grade. Becka joins the 2nd grade team.
Valerie Grissom
Valerie is a first-time public school teacher. She is very excited to join the first-grade team. A child psychology major, she has also worked with Healthcore. Most recently she has taught with Vickie Cole, long-time LISD 1st-grade teacher, at Presbyterian Children's Center.
Gayle Calcote
Gayle Calcote has taught middle school and elementary school in Tyler, and she has worked both as an aide and a teacher with the Literacy Council. Gayle is excited about joining our first-grade team at JMQ.
Chelsea Allen
Chelsea is coming home to East Texas after attending college in Commerce and working as a Head Start Teacher in Commerce ISD. Chelsea grew up in Harleton. The Pre-K teachers are excited to welcome her to their team!
Lesley Jaap
Lesley most recently comes to us from Kilgore ISD, but she also has worked in Sabine ISD. She has a reading specialization and experience in teaching diverse age groups. Lesley has taught 1st, 3rd and 6th grades. As the new Tier 3 Reading Teacher, Lesley will serve struggling readers in K-5.
Christina Whisenhunt
Christina is an experienced Life Skills teacher and is also a certified speech assistant. She comes to us from Kilgore ISD. She will be working closely with both her SpEd team and her students' GenEd teachers to provide a great year of learning for all her students.
Katie Farley
A familiar face, but a new role! Katie is Karson Farley's mom, and she is expanding her job description as mom, photographer, and PTA volunteer to include JMQ SpEd Inclusion IA. Please welcome Katie in her new role on our campus!
The Leadership Look
Meet Coach Ham!
Coach Ham hails most recently from Bramlette as a SpEd inclusion teacher. In addition to coaching experience, David is also a church music director and has a degree in educational administration.
The Candid Selfie
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Familiar Folks Groovin' and Movin'
In other news, there have been some grade level changes. Malissa Halbrook joins the Kindergarten team. Angelina Byrd moves to the intermediate side to join the 3rd-grade team. Due to predicted enrollment numbers, a position was moved from 5th-grade to 4th-grade. We will await enrollment updates to find out if we get an additional position in 5th grade after school starts.
16-17 Leadership Team
Welcome on Board! We are all called to be leaders every day in some way at Johnston-McQueen, but the Campus Leadership Team serves to lead, link, and support district and campus initiatives. The feedback they provide is invaluable, and they see the big picture because they hear the feedback from all grade levels. Most of our members rotated off the team last year due to serving two years, so I have assigned others to join our efforts. Thank you for serving!
- Pre-K - Nunn
- Kindergarten - McGee
- First - Koonce
- Second - Moren
- Third - Scott
- Fourth - Wingo
- Fifth - Small
- Deaf-Ed - Dunnavant
- SpEd - Horne
Student Welcome Letters
Homeroom teachers, you may begin drafting your notes or letters to welcome your new students and invite them to their respective Meet the Teacher Night. The details are on the Activities Calendar. (New teachers, email me for help with that if you would like it.) If you are using last year's template, it should be ready to go, and you do not need to have me check your letter unless you make major changes. (It is always wise to have another set of eyes review and edit our writing.) It is estimated you will get your class lists during the first week in August, and April will let you know when she has your mailing labels ready. Skyward has not yet rolled over from 15-16 to 16-17. You will be able to get the address labels and envelopes at school. Please bring your welcome letters to the school ready to mail no later than August 5th in order for the school to post them for you.
Staff Development and Schedule
The one firm detail I have is that Convocation is on August 12th. Once I get more specific information for district-wide staff development plans, I will put together a schedule for our campus staff development. There will be fewer whole group gatherings this year on campus since C & I is scheduling staff development by curriculum area and grade level in different locations all over the district. I think there will be some awesome workshops, so once I know the details, I will share them with you.
LAUNCH
The Power of a Smile
A resilient child teaches us to give to others powerfully. I know that even in my most challenging days I have not suffered an ounce of the grief this young lad has experienced. And, yet, he smiles. He goes a step further. He inspires others to smile. I do believe that kids teach us more about attitude, gratitude, and resilience than most other human beings we encounter. I hope you will take this video with you as you journey through your school year and give the gift of a smile to all whose lives you touch.
Georgia orphan's mission: Make others smile
Be The Hero of Your Own Story
We create daily personal stories that we share with our families, students, and others. Those stories record our words, deeds, and interactions. They reveal what others see in us, both our strengths and our frailties. What story will you write with your students and their parents this year? Will it be a story of heroic acts of effort, kindness, passion, forgiveness, encouragement, and inspiration? May we reflect on the new twist of our superhero theme, and consider how we might use it to inspire one another...staff, students, volunteers, parents and community members... to be the heroes of our own stories.
A heartfelt thank you goes to Barbara Crane for her help with choosing our new t-shirt logo. I have always believed that every job you ever hold is part of a grand design. Barb's experience as a graphic artist is such an asset to our campus!