One for the Record Books
March 2019
Shimotsu Student Invited to Participate at Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon
Elise Gonzalez, a 6th grade student from Harry Shimotsu Elementary, will be representing TLA District 4 at the annual Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon in Austin, Texas. Elise is one of ten students who will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Patricia McCormick, the author of Sergeant Reckless: the True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero, the 2018-2019 Texas Bluebonnet Award winner. Every year, a school is selected at random from those whose librarians apply to be considered for this honor. Shimotsu Elementary was the lucky school from District 4, and Elise is the lucky student who will travel in April to the Texas Library Association Conference with her family. She is excited about meeting the author and is eager to meet the other students from across the state.
Read Across America Week @ John H Shary
by Monica Silva
Students at John H. Shary celebrated Read Across America week by participating in daily Dr. Seuss Activities that promoted reading. We kicked it off on Friday, March 1st by dressing up as your favorite Dr. Seuss character to celebrate his birthday by having a character parade around the school. Each day a Dr. Seuss book was represented by having a school-wide activity. Students enjoyed their fun-filled week.SA3 Author Skype Session
On Tuesday, February 12th more than 100 SA3 English students and their teachers attended a Skype author session with Laurie Halse Anderson. Ms. Anderson has written 11 young adult novels. One of her most popular books is titled Speak. Speak tells the story of Hannah Baker who is raped at a teen party. Students read the book to better understand the Me Too Movement. Students were able to ask the author questions about her writing style, childhood upbringing, and the controversial nature of this story. English teachers Caleb Camacho, Gerardo Martinez, and Deanna Trevino collaborated with librarian Nicole Cruz to create this unique opportunity.
Holocaust Museum at SNJH Library
by Darvin Koenig
Mr. Koenig teamed up with the 8th Grade ELA teachers to host a Holocaust Museum event. The 8th grade students, who have been researching the Holocaust, created maps, posters, diaries, and other time period items to display. Jewish prayer songs were played to add to the affect. The 7th grade ELA classes visited the library throughout the day
Rattlers Leading Rattlers
By Wenndy Pray, B. L. Gray JH Librarian
The B. L. Gray Jr. High library is a brighter place due to the generosity of Mr. Juan Saenz of the Sharyland High School Art Department. He donated art that former Rattler students had created to enlighten and promote the arts at the junior high level. The pieces are a great addition to the amazing art work former SA3 student Jessica Boetcher painted on the library’s portable book drop. The pieces display cultural landmarks around the world and spark student interest in the arts. Everyone loves them!
O. Garza Summer Readers Trip
by Samantha Silva
Olivero Garza Elementary students celebrated their summer reading achievements with a trip to Main Event. Students who read over the summer, and turned in a summer reading list, were able to enjoy a game of bowling and video games. Students were also treated to pizza and drinks.
Hinojosa Family Reading Night
by Elizabeth Moreno
Mrs. Moreno, librarian at Ruben Hinojosa Elementary hosted a “Family Reading Night” on Thursday, February 21st. Students read with their parents and AR tested to meet their AR goals.
Pioneer Pride at UTRGV!
by Janie B. Flores
PHS Alumnus Rocio Villalobos interviewed PHS Social Studies teacher Chris Carrizalez for a story she’s doing for UTRGV-TV. Ms. Villalobos was the 2015-16 PHS Book Club President!
Read Across America @ RD Martinez
by Oneida Aleman
RD Martinez students had a great Read Across America Week. The students gave The Cat a makeover hat, made trufula trees to use as book markers, colored book marks, and played a Dr. Seuss jeopardy game. They had lots of fun.
Bluebonnet Challenge:
by Patricia Ramos
This year, students at Wernecke library enjoyed participating in a voting party to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet Award title. The students enjoyed the experience of having their voice heard and being a part of the voting process.
Sharyland High School Team Competes at Regional Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books team enjoyed the day at Region One. Team members included Anastasia Cruz, Regina Cerna, Danna Rocha, and Mary Jo Munguia. The team earned the 2nd highest score on the written exam. Beyond the round robin competition, students engaged in book activities like recording a FlipGrid video on a topic of their choice, escaping the BreakOut EDU on the book, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, and playing book Jenga. Librarian Nicole Cruz was their coach.
Jensen Students Dress Up for Dr. Seuss
SA3 Student Finalist in UIL State Animation Category and Texas Youth Creators Awards
SA3 Senior Joseph Gonzales entered his animation film, The Gourmet Chase, in both the State UIL Film Competition and the Texas Youth Creators Awards competition. Joseph was notified that his film placed 3rd in the state for the UIL filmmakers and 2nd in the Texas Youth Creators Awards competition. We have talented students in media production at SA3.
March Book Madness at SNJH
by Darvin Koenig
During the same time period that college basketball teams will be competing for the title of NCAA Champion, students at North will be voting for which book will be crowned “SNJH Best Book of 2019”. Mr. Koenig got the idea from the #txlchat , which is held on Twitter and provides a forum for Texas librarians (but not limited to Texas librarians) to create, collaborate, share educational resources, and foster continuous professional growth. The students will be voting weekly through a Google form, which will be sent to their email account.
Literacy Night Goes Digital!
By Wenndy Pray, B. L. Gray JH Librarian
Parents are always looking for a way to help their children's literacy efforts. To help parents promote literacy through digital means at home, and in honor of Teen Tech Week, B. L. Gray Jr. High librarian Wenndy Pray hosted Digital Family Literacy Night to highlight two important resources: Newsela and BrainPOP. Elementary and junior high students showed parents how to access these on MackinVia. BrainPOP provides a visual means to learning concepts and Newsela provides information text to compliment. Parents are anxious to use various digital means and Lexile measures to help their child’s reading improve.
Shimotsu Elementary Wins Regional Battle of the Books Competition
On February 19, Harry Shimotsu Elementary represented Sharyland ISD at the Region One Elementary Battle of the Books competition. Shimotsu's team composed of Itzel, Saanvi, Rachel, and Matthew was victorious beating out 13 other teams from across the Rio Grande Valley! Mrs. Bewley is very proud of them.
Google Doodle Competition at John H. Shary
For the past 10 years, Google has held an annual competition to have children create a Google doodle that will be featured on the local Google homepage. Students in 3rd-6th here at John H. Shary participated in the 2019 Doodle 4 Google. This years theme is "One Day I Hope..." Students used their imagination to create a doodle using any materials they wanted. Then they wrote a statement to tell us a bit more about what they have drawn and how it represents something that inspired them. Students will be judged on artistic merit, creativity, and theme communication. Fifty-three winners will be chosen, five national finalist, and one national winner. For more information go to https://doodles.google.com/d4g/.
Seuss Week @ Wernecke
by Patricia Ramos
Students enjoyed participating in Dr. Seuss week activities at the library. Kinder students enjoyed finding rhyming words with a “Green Eggs and Ham” inspired rhyming activity. Students also enjoyed dressing up all week and enjoyed a Seuss themed Family Reading Night at the library.
Read Across America Week @ RHE
by Elizabeth Moreno
Ruben Hinojosa Elementary celebrated Dr. Suess during Read Across America Week. Activities were planned daily; but, the most popular were the guest readers. Students immensely enjoyed all the stories read by all the special guests including; The Toro’s, Mrs. Carolyn Mendiola, and many of our RHE parents!
Seuss-tasical HAIR-DO Jessie Jensen Student
Skype Author Session at RD Martinez
by Oneida Aleman
A group of 6th grade students and Mrs. Longoria's 2nd grade class attended a broadcast Skype in the Classroom. The students learned more about author and illustrator, Cressida Cowell of How to Train Your Dragon series. It was a great experience. A BIG thank you to Mrs. Longoria for collaborating with me to make this opportunity available to our students.
Carolyn Dee Flores Teaches SHS Students Watercolor Techniques
Carolyn Dee Flores spoke to Sharyland High School students on Friday, March 8th. Classes attending the session included art, theatre, CTE, and English. She shared how stories are developed along with art techniques. Her visit was a collaborative effort between SHS and PHS librarians Nicole Cruz and Janie Flores.
Rapid Review by Darvin Koenig SNJH Librarian
THE BOY ON THE WOODEN BOX: How the impossible became possible...on Schindler’s list: A MEMOIR Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran & Elisabeth B. Leyson
The true story of Leon Leyson (Leib Lejzon before coming to the United States), a Jewish boy born and raised in Poland. He was nine years old and living a carefree life when the Nazis invaded. For the next several years he lived in a constant state of fear and starvation as his situation went from bad to worse. In a strange twist of fate, his life would eventually be saved because of one man, Oskar Schindler, a German Nazi businessman who is credited with saving the lives of 1200 Jews during World War II. This is a story of human resilience and love in the face of evil.
Learning Lunches at RHE Library
by Elizabeth Moreno
Mrs. Moreno hosted a Learning Lunch for the staff at Ruben Hinojosa Elementary. During their lunch time, staff learned about clearing out their closets and selling items online. Staff brought in some items and had a great time learning to upload images, strategies for selling, etc. The event provided some stress relief while staff learned something new.
O. Garza Celebrates Read Across America
by Samantha Silva
Students at O. Garza Elementary celebrated reading and Dr. Seuss with fun activities throughout the week of March 4th-March 8th. Students dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters, wore their hair in wacky ways, and dressed up as if they were 103 years old! It was a lot of fun to celebrate and learn about Dr. Seuss and his books.
Genre Challenge:
by Patricia Ramos
Students at Donna Wernecke library participated in a Genre Challenge, which encouraged students to read a variety of non-fiction categories from the library. Once the students completed their Genre Challenge Log, they were able to have their name entered in a raffle. At the end of Seuss week, the winning students were very excited to be called in to redeem their raffle prizes!
Nicole H. Cruz, SISD Lead Librarian
Email: ncruz@sharylandisd.org
Website: http://www.sharylandisd.org/departments/library_services
Location: 1216 North Shary Road, Mission, TX, USA
Phone: 956-580-5300