District in Pictures
March 22, 2024
Franklin Students Kick Off Spring Break With Egg Drop
Franklin students, faculty, staff, and families said "aloha" to spring break on Friday, March 8 with a Luau and Egg Drop! In the days leading up to the event, every student worked in groups or pairs to create an invention that would protect an egg when dropped. The Wichita Falls Fire Department assisted in the drop by bringing their truck and ladders. While many eggs survived the initial drop, only a few made it from the final drop of 100 feet! Students enjoyed seeing one brave teacher from each grade level join a firefighter to drop the projects from on high! Families were invited to join on the egg drop fun and lunch with their student. The cafeteria served specialty Hawaiian pizza to add to the Luau theme. Students from Franklin Unified passed out leis and served complimentary tea and lemonade to all adult guests and firefighters.
Booker T. Washington Elementary Hosts Annual Career Day
On Friday, March 8, Booker T. Washington students enjoyed their annual Career Day, organized by BTW teacher Janet Hughes. Professionals from across the Wichita Falls community dedicated the afternoon at the school, sharing insights about their professions, offering demonstrations, and engaging students in hands-on activities. Students had the chance to select from a range of options, moving between classrooms to delve into potential career paths. A big thank you to all community members who contributed to the success of the day
Swimmers Take Part in Lifeguard Certification
Members of the WFISD swim team dedicated a portion of their Spring Break to earn their Lifeguard certification. During their spring break, six swimmers underwent a weekend of intensive lifeguard training, involving 6 hours of online coursework and 21 hours of in-pool skill practice. The training covered water lifesaving techniques, First Aid, and CPR/AED skills.
Jefferson Rocks Their Socks on World Down Syndrome Day
Jefferson Elementary celebrated World Down Syndrome Day on March 21. The school was able to collect socks for every student as well as staff members, including cafeteria staff and custodial staff. Chromosomes are shaped like socks, so people wear colorful mismatched socks on World Down Syndrome Day to raise awareness. "We are very proud of our campus and appreciate all of the support," said Jefferson teacher Diane tenBrink.
Student Art is on Full Display at Annual Art Exhibition
This week, the Wichita Falls Arts Council hosted the WFISD High School Art Exhibition at The Forum. The event was an opportunity for the community to view artwork created by the talented students from all three high schools. In addition to viewing the artwork, community members could also bid on select pieces of art through a silent auction. An opening reception was held on Tuesday night and many of the artists were in attendance to show off their creativity.
Cunningham Students and Staff Go the "Extra" Mile to Celebrate Students
On Thursday, Cunningham Elementary hosted a National Down Syndrome Day parade. Students and staff dressed EXTRA to celebrate our friends with Down Syndrome and then celebrated by walking the halls. The day is celebrated March 21 to signify the third copy of the 21st chromosome in individuals with Down syndrome.
Kirby Students Treated to Burgers from Their Principal
On Friday morning, Kirby principal, Del Hardaway, along with Coach Mack and and Kirby's at-risk coordinator, Ronnie Williams, cooked burgers out in the courtyard for the entire Kirby staff and all of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students who met their STAAR Interim test goals in reading and math. "The students have worked so hard this semester and this was a really fun reward," said ELAR Curriculum Specialist, Shera Rasmussen. "Students were able to enjoy their lunch in the courtyard."
McNiel Teacher Supports Secondary Readers Through Region 9 Training
McNiel Middle School teacher, Melissa Saisuwan, recently attended a training at Region 9 designed to help struggling readers. At the training, she learned skills for helping her secondary students break down words they couldn't read and how to use their own knowledge to figure out what the word said. "I showed my students in one lesson how to do it, and they started using it on tests and assignments figuring out how to read words they normally would skip," said Ms. Saisuwan. "This has been such a blessing and my students aren't simply skipping words they don't know anymore! They are using this skill to fill in their own vocabulary gaps!"
High School Students Receive Lessons from MSU Professors
Earlier this month, MSU's Dr. Franklin Tillman, Assistant Professor of Marketing, spoke with budding business students at Rider, WFHS, and Hirschi High School. Tillman spoke on marketing as a multifaceted industry, dissecting advertising, consumer behavior, sales, and market research. Students learned the lengths some marketing researchers would go through to understand consumer spending habits. Garbology is the science of analyzing people's trash to see the brands purchased and their frequency. MSU’s Tim Stary, the lead admissions counselor for WFISD and the region around WF, gave students MSU swag.
Additionally, MSU's Dr. Andrew Holt, Assistant Professor of Economics, spoke with budding business students at Rider, WFHS, and Hirschi High School. Holt taught students economics as deciphering who gets what and why. Using Pokémon cards as an example, Holt explained the concept of perceived value, economic demand, and scarcity. Students also learned concepts of causation and correlation.
Fowler PreK Welcomes Spring
Fowler Elementary's PreK students welcomed the first day of spring this week with the arrival of ladybugs and caterpillars! "Students are excited to watch their lifecycle in live action," said Fowler assistant principal, Amanda Awtrey.
Cunningham Offers Assistance to Parents Through New Support Group
Cunningham Elementary recently started a monthly parent support group, eSPECIALly loved, designed to support parents of students with special needs. Each month will feature topics to help parents navigate the sometimes confusing and overwhelming world of parenting a child with unique needs. The group's creation is the brain child of LIFE teacher, Sydney Meek! "Her idea was to create support for Cunningham parents who have children with special needs," said Cunningham principal, Amy Simmons. "Once we started advertising on social media it became evident very quickly that this was a larger need in our community." Mrs. Meek tweaked her original idea, welcomed parents from all over Wichita Falls, and ran with it!
West Students Go to "Starbooks"
First grade students in Sarah Jones' class at West Foundation enjoyed their room transformation this week as their classroom morphed into a coffee shop. They enjoyed a "Starbooks" Cafe where they sampled fiction and nonfiction books.
WFPD Training Center Opens Doors to McNiel Students
A group of 8th grade students from McNiel Middle School had the opportunity to tour the Wichita Falls Police Department training center this week. "Thank you to Sgt. Eipper and Officer Gordon for giving our students this unique hands on experience," said McNiel College and Career Advisor, Jessica Tally.
WFHS Student Takes Top Prize in Women's Art History Contest
Girl Scouts Troop 8240 sponsored a Women's History Art Contest open to all WFISD students. The grand prize art piece (pictured below) was created by Nathalie Rodriguez, a WFHS senior. Nathalie says her painting "embodies the journey of a woman's pursuit of her dreams depicted through the imagery of her reaching for the sun, with the hands guiding and supporting the young girl towards her aspirations." Additional prize winners include Amelia Appleby (Rider), Jazmin Flores (Zundy), and Rouz Alijuaid, Amelia Morey, Violet Hatch, Stefan Pop, Milena Pascual, Julianna Carter, and Ashlynn Del Toro (Sheppard).
Union Square's "Shep" Visits Milam
This week, Milam Elementary received a special visit from one of its PIE Partners, Union Square Credit Union. Their mascot, Shep, was quite a hit with the students! "They do so much for our school and community and we appreciate them," said Milam counselor, Jodi Camp.
Fowler Kindergarten Dance Party
Fowler's kindergartners danced their way into spring break! Mrs. Amy Case, Fowler PE teacher, hosted her annual Kindergarten dance party, inviting parents and/or grandparents of kindergarten students to come and dance with their littlest learners. "Our kindergarten students loved showing off all of the active dances and exercises that they do during their PE rotation," said Fowler assistant principal, Amanda Awtrey. Students who didn't have a visitor available to attend the dance got to cut loose with a few of the 5th grade students.
WFHS Journalism Students Get Hands-On Experience at MSU
Wichita Falls High School journalism and yearbook students spent a day at the MSU mass communication department on Thursday. They heard about different things to consider when selecting a college, scholarship opportunities and majors and career options within mass communications. They also toured campus housing and had lunch at the dining hall.
City Hope Serves Breakfast at Sheppard Elementary
Sheppard Elementary principal, Cindy Waddell, was especially thankful this week as one local church provided breakfast for all of her staff. "Thank you to City Hope Church," said Mrs. Waddell. "This is a great way to show teacher appreciation. Thanks for all you do."
Kirby 8th Graders Create HR Diagram
Kirby Middle School teacher, Amaris Wise, is proud to show off the astronomical display of the HR diagram created by her 8th graders. The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (abbreviated as H–R diagram, HR diagram or HRD) is a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars' absolute magnitudes or luminosities versus their stellar classifications or effective temperatures.
Scotland Park City Hope Breakfast
This week, Ray & Belinda Wilson from City Hope Church visited Scotland Park Elementary to serve breakfast for the whole staff. Thank you, City Hope. Your generosity is much appreciated.
CEC Staff Receives Pop Up Breakfast
This week, the staff at the Career Education Center received their pop-up breakfast, courtesy of Grand Canyon University. Teachers received breakfast pizza from United Market Street and warm scones and coffee from Chartwells.
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District in Pictures is a weekly publication developed by the WFISD Community Relations department. If you have events, recognitions or classroom activities taking place on your campus that you would like us to feature, please let us know by completing the form at the following link: www.wfisd.net/dip. We would love to include you in our weekly district news.