The Pirate Treasure
MARCH 23, 2023
The Pine Tree High School Speech Team has recently garnered multiple recognitions and advancements. Senior Carter Terry secured a spot to compete in the National Speech and Debate Association’s (NSDA) national competition in Arizona this summer after winning 1st place in the Lincoln-Douglas regional competition. Aiden McQueary is first alternate in extemporaneous speaking. Their team members will compete in a second NSDA regional qualifier on April 8th.
Travis Johnson and Aiden McQueary are the 3rd place team in the State 5A
Cross-Examination Debate tournament which began with 54 teams that advanced to the state-level competition. Travis, a junior, and Aiden, a sophomore, are a first-year debate team. Congratulations to all speakers on their successes this year!
The Pine Tree High School Math Science team competed in the annual Texas Math Science Coaches’ Association state meet in San Antonio over spring break. The team produced some of their top scores while competing against top teams from across the state.
Cread Ray won 1st place in Science out of all tenth grade competitors!
Other students in the Top Ten include:
Grant Beakley, 12th grade, 5th place Number Sense
Noah Sims, 12th grade, 9th place Mathematics
Eryka Furlong, 10th grade, 7th place Number Sense
Seth McFarland, 10th grade, 10th place Science
Matthew Sprague, 9th grade, 4th place Number Sense
Emily Willadson, 9th grade, 7th place Number Sense
Emily Willadson, 9th grade, 3rd place Calculator
Matthew Sprague, 9th grade, 5th place Calculator
Viktoria Roudkovski, 9th grade, 7th place Calculator
Emily Willadson, 9th grade, 5th place Mathematics
Viktoria Roudkovski, 9th grade, 6th place Mathematics
PRIMARY CLASSROOM HILL
Mrs Hill’s Hotshots have had a great second semester. Our class enjoyed 100 Days of School, Ecoland, Valentine’s STEAM activities and walkathon. We are hard at work advancing our reading and writing skills.
PRIMARY CLASSROOM THOMPSON
Mrs. Thompson’s Tornadoes are having a blast this second semester. Our class enjoyed the walkathon right before spring break. When we returned, we had a visit from a sneaky leprechaun! We had fun searching for him. We are ready for our last nine weeks of Kindergarten!
Our walkathon was so much fun! Parents came and walked with their students and the McDonald's hamburglar stole the show. After a restful break, we are ready to meet all our goals!
PTP UPCOMING EVENTS
March 27
Ecoland Pearce, Malloy, Wimberly- 8:30 a.m.
March 28
Bilingual Literacy Night
Primary School 5:00-7:00
March 30
Ecoland Pruitt, Mosley, Kraus- 8:30 a.m.
Pirate of the Month Announcement - 2:15 pm in the Front Office
March 31
Kona Ice
April 1
Autism Awareness Day
Ecoland Gonzalez, Storms, and Hewitt - 8:30 a.m.
April 4
School Librarian Day
April 5
Paraprofessional Day-Paras are an essential part of our success here at the Primary!
April 6
Texas Day * 8:00 a.m. -12:30 pm
April 7
School Holiday
BIRCH ELEMENTARY
Birch Elementary School celebrated Dr. Seuss’ Birthday with a fantastic parade filled with children and staff sporting their favorite Dr. Seuss character costumes, clothing, and props. Healthcare Express and Klondike the Bear joined in the festivities as well.
Awards were given to the following classrooms:
Creative Character Awards:
1st grade: Eggerman
2nd grade: Gaston
3rd grade: Darden
4th grade: Bullard
Cutest Character Award: Mrs. Kiya’s Class
Seusstastical Spirit Awards:
1st grade: Rivera
2nd grade: Justiss
3rd grade: Hewitt
4th grade: B. Smith
The Birch First March session of Genius Hour was a success due to the generosity and commitment of numerous community leaders and Birch staff members who taught our students valuable skills while continuing to build relationships with our students. Looking forward to our May session with anticipation!
PARKWAY ELEMENTARY
Wonderful World of Learning
Last week, students in Mrs. Graves's first grade CEER class presented their reports about different types of famous people that have reshaped our world. They have been researching and learning about different people, their achievements and how they have impacted the world. The students then wrote their own biographies. They created a poster version of the person they researched and became that person while reading their reports.
MOST VALUABLE PIRATE
At the March 20th PTISD Board Meeting, our very own Mr. and Mrs. Mckittrick received the Most Valuable Pirate Award. They serve not only the Pack family but the community as well. Mrs. Mckittrick, along with other volunteers, decorated our school halls for Christmas. Mr. Mckittrick is our ice cream man on Friday’s. When he is not helping pass out ice cream in the cafeteria during lunches, he is in the gym for PE helping out and playing with our Pack students.
Perfect Attendance
Our amazing people at Flugers of Longview donated a boy and girl bike to Parkway for perfect attendance for the 3rd nine weeks. Dayton McClain, a second grader in Ms. Edwards class, and Leslee Herrera, a first grader in Ms. Howell's class, are our 3rd nine weeks bike winners. They were so excited to receive their bike which they took home the Friday before spring break.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Wonderful things are happening at Pine Tree Middle School every day!
This week we are learning about the word ‘inclusive’ and including others in our work. Mrs. Vidaurri’s 6th grade CEER class participated in Read Across America with Pine Tree Primary. Each student chose a favorite book from their childhood and read it to a class at PT Primary and then donated that book to the classroom library. Afterwards, they had a little recess with the Pre-K and Kindergarten students. Fun was had by ALL!
Pine Tree Middle School Choir performed for their spring concert March the 6.
Middle School PTO hosted a Mardi Gras Dance in February. Many students wore masks and dressed up for the fun activities. Our PTO helped with snacks and selling masks at the dance.
Fifth Grade students will learn more about the electives offered during their sixth grade year with a parent meeting on March 28, 2023.
JUNIOR HIGH
Pine Tree Junior High Color Guard, led by Jared Cronk, placed 3rd in the state championship on March 11th! They worked so hard and we’re very proud of them!
Our choir concert on March 7th was an amazing night! Our students showed off their incredible talent and big voices!
March 10th was our PTJH Cheerleader try out event! We had a great group of girls trying out and we’re super excited for this team! Congratulations to the PTJH 2023-24 Cheerleaders!
PTJH hosts a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting once a month before school in our lecture hall. The turnout has continued to grow each month and we even had our own Mr. Derrick Conley lead our most recent meeting on March 9th. He pointed out how amazing our kids are!
PTJH Student Council did a great job leading the Pledge of Allegiance at our district board meeting on Monday, March 20th.
HIGH SCHOOL
The last nine weeks of the school year is officially under way at Pine Tree High School, and students are as busy as ever but have summer on their minds as there is only eight Fridays left until graduation.
Spring break provided a much needed break, but not all students were able to enjoy the days off. Girls and boys soccer had the final games of the season during break, while softball and baseball had games as well. Powerlifters competed in state competition while our track team earned medals in a meet as well.
Students are back in class and headed toward the graduation and summer vacation finish line just a few short weeks away. Students will have one day off for Good Friday on April 7, two days off for an April break and then have STAAR testing and final exams before getting out for summer, so there is not a lot of school left for this term. And, teachers are feverishly completing work and projects so that everything is done in time for final exams in May.
The yearbook has been completed and will be printed and returned to school in May. Greg Collins said this year’s book is a good one and is on sale for those who have not yet purchased one. Online sales will end on April 15, while students who bring a check or cash can come to Room 612 and purchase a yearbook. The book, which costs $80, contains over 3,000 pictures and documents every class and every student and teacher in the school.
Prom is on the horizon. Prom is scheduled for Saturday, April 15 from 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Tickets are now for sale in the cafeteria during lunch, and students are reminded if they are bringing an outside date, someone not currently a PT student, they have to fill out a form for that person.
April 15th is also the annual Special Olympics event at Pine Tree Stadium. Over 100 students will be helping with the competition that day from 8:30 until 12 noon. It promises to be a memorable event for everyone who participates.
Precision Drill Team is gearing up for its Spring Show in April, and the girls, fresh off of a trip to Disney World, are working on routines and skits for the show. Director Laycen Watson said the show will be sold out every night so people should be ready to get tickets immediately when they go on sale.
The cheerleaders have named their squads for the next school year after tryouts were held recently. Fourteen girls will make up the varsity squad for next year, while eight girls have been named to the junior varsity squad. Leaders for the varsity will be named this coming summer during events as the girls get ready for a busy year ahead.
There are eight Fridays until graduation. The time is short, the work is heavy and the students are staying busy to get everything done so they can enjoy a great graduation or summer ahead.
EXCEL
The graduates just keep coming from ExCEL! We have our third graduate for March, Ciara Bray. Ciara interviewed and was accepted into the ExCEL program at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. At the beginning of the year, Ciara was going to school full-time and working at a part-time job after school. She decided that was too much for her to juggle and so she decided to come to ExCEL where she qualified for half-day attendance and still work part-time.
She was determined to graduate early so she could lighten her load even more and "get school off my plate," she says. She took advantage of being able to complete schoolwork at home online on the weekends and on breaks from school so she could complete her studies.
Because of her usual quiet and shy nature, Ciara found the smaller classroom setting offered at ExCEL and ExCEL classes being in one area of the high school the things she liked most about being in the program. Although she is quiet by nature, she says in the right setting she can open up. One of her strong points is that when she makes up her mind to do something she sticks to it. She describes herself as being a caring person and very self-motivated. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, especially murder mystery books.
Ciara has already completed a semester of cosmetology at Kilgore College and plans to complete her second semester soon. With her determination we are sure she will.
PACE
Kudos to the students who volunteered during spring break for the City of Longview Kite Day. This event was hosted by the City of Longview Parks and Recreation Department.
Pine Tree students were assigned the task of distributing kites to the participants. 750 kites were given away at two spots within the first 48 minutes of the event’s kick-off. This fun event was attended by about 1800 participants from local communities.
Providing varied service opportunities for our students to serve others helps promote their social and community awareness in a holistic manner. Way to Go, PACE student volunteers!
JODI STARK - PACE TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Mrs. Stark, the PACE Elementary teacher, is the 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year.
She has been teaching for 31 years with this being her 6th year at Pine Tree. She continuously shows us what it means to be PACE STRONG. Her passion for teaching and making connections with her students is always special to witness.
Mrs. Stark is the current president of Alpha Delta Kappa, Beta Lambda Chapter Sorority which is an International Honorary Organization for Women Educators. And, indeed, she is an excellent woman educator. Congratulations, Mrs. Stark!