The V.I.P
Vanguard Information Page
Week of November 28, 2022
From Dean Elsasser
I hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving break with your families. We are excited to see our Vanguards back on campus tomorrow. On Friday before the break we held our 2nd annual Turkey Tourney kickball tournament. 23 teams competed in our kickball tournament, but Smashed Potatoes came out victorious over all. TANKSgiving came in 2nd place. There were some other winners among us that we didn't get to announce because our tourney ran long!
- The Vanguard Volume Award given to the team with the most impressive entrance to their game goes to THICC Taterz
- Vivid Vanguard Award given to the team with the best costume goes to Pumpkin Patch Kids!
- Vivacious Vanguards Award given to the team with the best team spirit goes to Coconut Cream Pie
- Virtuous Vanguards Award which goes to the team who showed the best sportsmanship for the day goes to Hot Gobblers
What we really learned is that we need more categories because the jerseys, the cheer sections, and the team names were amazing this year.
I am very grateful to Dallas Regional Medical Center for its sponsorship of the Turkey Tourney. Their sponsorship allowed us to take the Turkey Tourney to the next level with supplies and decor. We are very thankful for our partnership with them.
I need to give a special thank you to our Dads and Difference Makers on Duty for being referees during the games, our PTA volunteers for helping with a neverending concession stand line, all of our teachers who played or coached and made this event special, Anayah Darrett, our graphic design student who won the t-shirt design competition and logo for this year's event, Coach Hunt for her flawless planning of the event, Ms. Pita and Mrs. Jimenez for organizing and running the concession stands. Ordonez for making sure our attendance for the day was taken care of, and countless others behind the scenes who helped make the event successful. We are looking forward to our 3rd annual Turkey Tourney next year!
We have a 3 week run before our winter break. It's time to focus and work on grades and getting ready for semester exams. We have a few big things happening before we leave for break including STAAR retesting, Breakfast with Santa, and our Winter Formal. Please read through this newsletter carefully for information about all of our December events.
We will be hosting Discovery Night for our incoming 8th graders at Vanguard on Tuesday, December 6th! Please spread the word and invite potential students to see what Vanguard has to offer! Before the break, we welcomed 8th graders from Frasier and AC New Middle schools to campus to learn about their opportunities in high school! Remember the interest form in Skyward is available now through December 7th.
Let's have another great week, Vanguards!
Vanguard Partner Spotlight
Thank you to our Turkey Tourney 2022 Blue and Gold Sponsor: Dallas Regional Medical Center
It was wonderful working with their team, especially Vince Falsarella and Becky McIntire, who were on site that morning and helped with purchasing supplies and decor for the event. We are grateful for this partnership and look forward to more events with Dallas Regional Medical Center!
Breakfast with Santa - HOSA Fundraiser!
The whole community is invited and there will be something for kids of all ages! Join us for crafting stations, reindeer games, pictures with Santa, and breakfast concessions! All proceeds benefit the Health Occupations Students of America, our Health Services student organization on campus!
Spread the word and we hope to see you there!
Learning Recovery and Attendance Recoup Saturday Session
December STAAR Re-test
The December STAAR Retest is quikly approaching. Testing will take place on Tuesday, December 6th, Wednesday, December 7th, and/or Thursday, December 8th. Students have spent this semester reviewing with their Learning Recovery Teacher to prepare them for the STAAR before the start of STAAR 2.0 in the Spring of 2023. If your student is testing, please ensure that your students arrive at 9:00 AM with their Chromebooks fully charged.
The December STAAR Retest is quikly approaching. Testing will take place on Tuesday, December 6th, Wednesday, December 7th, and/or Thursday, December 8th. Students have spent this semester reviewing with their Learning Recovery Teacher to prepare them for the STAAR before the start of STAAR 2.0 in the Spring of 2023. If your student is testing, please ensure that your students arrive at 9:00 AM with their Chromebooks fully charged.
We will have one more learning recovery session on Saturday, December 3rd from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. This session will be the last chance to review test-taking strategies and build confidence leading into the STAAR Exams the next week. It is highly encouraged that students take advantage of this opportunity.
If you have any questions please feel free to reach Ms. Thomas by email at lthomas@mesquiteisd.org or phone at 972-882-0026.
Algebra STAAR Re-test Tutoring Sessions
The Algebra STAAR retest will be Wednesday, December 7th. We will be hosting 3 tutorial sessions to reinforce testing strategies your students have received this semester in their
Learning Recovery Sessions.
We ask that all Algebra re-testers attend these sessions. Tutoring buses will be available to take students to the elementary school closest to their home.
If you have any questions please reach out to
Ms. Thomas at lthomas@mesquiteisd.org or Ms. Lane at plane@mesquiteisd.org.
Tutoring Schedule
Tuesday, Nov 29th - 3:45 - 5:00 PM
Thursday, Dec 1st - 3:35 - 5:00 PM
Saturday, Dec 3rd - 9:00 - 12:00
Winter Formal
It's almost time for our second annual Winter Formal hosted by our Student Council! This year's theme is Enchanted Winter Wonderland.
Here is the information you need:
Date: Saturday, December 10th
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Tickets: We will begin selling tickets Wednesday, November 30th. Tickets are $25 for individuals or $40 for couples.
Students can bring a date from another MISD school by having a form signed by the MISD principal of the school their date attends and turn it in to Mrs. David by Thursday, December 8th.
Please read the dance dress code guidelines carefully!
Blood Drive
There are 35 spots available for the Carter blood drive hosted by Mr. Wade and our phlebotomy students.
- Students who are 16 years old need parent permission to donate. Permission slips can be picked up in Mr. Wade's classroom.
- Students who are 17+ can go ahead and sign up for a time slot.
There will be another drive in the spring if anyone is interested but can’t donate this time, or if they can’t get a time slot. (The spring drive will be bigger, 70 slots, so plenty of space)
If you're interested sign up below!
https://ww3.greatpartners.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/133339
TSA Christmas Ornaments Fundraiser
Our TSA students are here to help with your holiday shopping! Attached is the 2022 TSA Christmas Ornament Catalog and an order form!
They will take orders through Dec. 7th.
If you have any questions email Rbroussard@mesquiteisd.org
To view the Christmas Ornament catalog click here.
To print the order form click here.
Vanguard Yearbooks are on Sale!
Have you ordered your Vanguard yearbook yet? We are currently selling the yearbook online only! Students who are interested in owning the FIRST Vanguard yearbook must pre-purchase online!
The cost of the yearbook is $50, and can be made in 3 installments!
Ordering is easy! Click this link: https://tinyurl.com/vhsorder. Make sure you are on the Vanguard High School in Mesquite, Texas page.
We are making memories at Vanguard, make them last a lifetime with your own Vanguard yearbook!
Robotics Fundraiser
To place an order use the following link:
Stuff the Space
As of Friday, November 18th our total of collected items were:
Stuff the Space counts as of 11/18 – 3 DAYS LEFT
Freshmen 241
Sophomores 133
Juniors 199
Looks like Freshmen our leading the pack with giving!
We are looking for pantry staple items. Examples of items we are looking for include canned food, beans and rice, mac and cheese, hamburger helper, 5 pound bags of sugar and flour, peanut butter, canned tuna, spam or chicken! Start bringing items on Tuesday to the collaboration space at the end of downstairs H hall!
Dads and Difference Makers on Duty Meeting
Vanguard Computer Science Students Toured the Annual SC22 Conference
Our Computer Science students, teacher Mrs. Newman, and Mr. Stoker took advantage of the unique opportunity to visit a large national conference and gain exposure to the exciting field of high-performance computing, also known as Supercomputers, at the Annual SC22 Conference!
The conference hosted over 200 companies, colleges, and vendors. Vanguard students toured multiple booths, spoke with leading companies in HPC, learned about available internship opportunities, discussd best careers and college pathways for students with universities and engineers, and grabbed lots of swag and giveaways for the takings. This was an experience of learning and having fun at the same time!
Google Cloud Platform, offered by Google, is a suite of cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Drive, and YouTube. The spokesman offered information about their products and services for students and teachers.
The first Cray-1 system was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976. It was the first of numerous models supplied by Cray Research that provided the bulk of LANL’s production supercomputing. It reigned as the world's fastest supercomputer from 1976 to 1982. The cables were wired, assembled, and stitched by women. Students got a chance to get an up close look at the historical machine. Afterwards, they viewed and compared the system to current powerful supercomputers.
Congratulations to our NTHS Elected Leaders!
The National Technical Honor Society is an honor society for outstanding career and technical students of workforce vocational education institutions in the United States. Congratulations to the newly elected leaders for NTHS.
Executive Board
President: Jacqueline Olivares
Vice President: Linda Abey
Secretary: Andrew Verdi
Treasurer: Alazio Vargas
Committee Chairs
Recognition- Andrea Solis
Career Readiness- Anayah Darrett
Leadership & Scholarship- Ricky Avila
Community Service- Luke Lamberton
NTHS Students Volunteered at the Mesquite Education Foundation 5k
Vanguard High School Yearbook Staff at the Jostens Renaissance Education Event
FAME- Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education Field Trip
They spent the morning learning about the program and how our students could apply to participate. After lunch, we were given a guided tour of Plastipak in Garland. They are a manufacturing company that has FAME students in the program. They manufacture plastic bottles for Kraft, Dr. Pepper, and Coca-cola. This was a great experience and we are excited about this new opportunity.
Mrs. Powell's Clinical Classes earn Stop the Bleed Certificates and Learn how to Check Blood Pressure
Students in Mrs. Powell's Clinical classes earned their certificates in Stop the Bleed. The students must know when to apply direct pressure, to pack a wound or if a tourniquet is required.
Teacher of the Week!
Staff Member of the Week!
Vanguard is Now Enrolling Students for the 2023-2024 School Year!
PTA
Vanguard PTA meetings will be held on the 2nd Thursday in January, March, and May Our Vanguard PTA Board will meet at 5:30 pm. The general PTA Meeting will begin at 6:45 pm. Thank you to all of our PTA board and members!
Upcoming Events!
December
- December 3rd -Learning Recovery and attendance Recoup 9am-noon
- December 3rd - Breakfast with Santa 9am-noon
- December 6th - 8th Grade Discovery Night at Vanguard
- December 6th - English 1 STAAR Re-test
- December 7th- Algebra STAAR Re-test
- December 8th -English 2 and Biology STAAR Re-test
- December 9th - All STAAR Re-test Makeup sessions
- December 10th - Winter Formal 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
- December 15th and 16th - Early Release - End of Semester Exams
- December 19th- January 2nd - Winter Break
Student Standardized Dress
Student ID Badges
Students are required to have Student ID badges visible at all times, this is for the safety of the students and Vanguard High School Campus.
If students do not have an ID badge they will be charged $5 for a replacement. This includes if a student scratches off picture, puts a sticker over the original pictures or in some way alters the original picture on the ID Badge.
Thank you for helping us keep your student and Vanguard High School safe