Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Malcolm X

Dr. Auzenne-Curl spent Monday, August 5th with the MSD Faculty to help encourage them how important it is to understand poverty and the students they teach. “I enjoy presenting this material because of emphasis Dr. Payne places on the various dimensions of resources that we can encourage our young people to build upon. This dynamic helps us design interventions that really work.”

This workshop gave the MSD Faculty in-depth information to help them understand class differences and 10 actions they can implement in the classroom to achieve impact. This workshop was based on the book A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D. Teachers were equipped with concrete actions on how to:

• Better understand how economic class affects behaviors and mindsets.

• Develop stronger relationships with their students to impact behavior and achievement.

• Identify several key instructional strategies that meet the needs of the under-resourced learner.

• Understand the hidden rules of economic classes and how they apply to their classrooms.

• Reduce their discipline referrals.

• Use concrete strategies that impact the achievement of students from poverty.

“Being in Marion with the high energy group was fantastic. So many came to me during the break and after the day was done that I know this is the beginning of your journey. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Marion schools. Remember that we approach springboards, not finish lines!”

For more than 15 years, Dr. Chestin Auzenne-Curl has served students, teachers, and administrators in public school systems and higher education. Chestin’s professional roles include various critical teaching and program leadership roles in K–12, as well as teaching and mentoring in higher education. Through aha! Process Chestin provides training and consulting services for Emotional Poverty, Academic Coaching, Rich Instruction, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, and Research-Based Strategies.

Straley Owen and Mary Inman, Instructional Facilitators (pictured above) for MSD are the district trainers for the R.I.S.E. and Reading Horizons programs. The MSD dyslexia interventionists will service the 3 to 5% of the student population. But what about the rest of the student population? The R.I.S.E. and Reading Horizons programs will reach the rest of the student population in the MSD in need of support in literacy. The investment made with these two programs the district hopes to see vast improvements in literacy over the next several years. Mary and Straley have been trained to support and instruct our MSD teachers using these programs.

R.I.S.E. (Reading Initiative for Student Excellence) Arkansas encourages a culture of reading by coordinating a statewide reading campaign with community partners, parents, and teachers to establish the importance of reading in homes, schools, and communities. This page features a variety of resources to assist parents with reading at home and to increase the depth of knowledge for teachers. Goal 1: Sharpen the focus and strengthen instruction. Goal 2: Create community collaboration. Goal 3: Build a culture of reading.

Reading Horizons goal is to provide a dynamic, successful way for people to reach beyond their limitations and discover new horizons by learning to read. Accordingly, Reading Horizons is dedicated specifically to helping people learn to read so they can be better prepared to accomplish real-life tasks that face them every day and so they can create opportunities to expand their horizons in the future.

The Marion School District campus security, as well as other departments from Crittenden County, underwent training for a variety of scenarios in an effort to ensure our children's safety. John Evans, Marion's Campus Security Director, said that the school will have at least one officer stationed at each school building who will undergo this training.

"We're working with some of the best people in the state, some of whom have kids that go to school here," Evans said. "All of our guys are either active or former law enforcement with years of training."

Marion Cheerleading made some noise at the National Cheer Association camp over the summer break. Coach Lauren Brinkley’s girls took home an impressive amount of trophies at the camp that Brinkley says should carry over into their performances on Friday nights. “I was very proud of the way they performed at the camp,” Brinkley said. “This group of 25 is the largest I’ve taken to camp so far, and that’s because we have so many talented girls. This fall is going to be fun because they communicate with each other very well, and more importantly they love their school.” The girls won four awards as a team, including the Rally Routine championship, the Gameday championship, the camp’s Spirit Stick, and a bid to Nationals. On the individual level, the girls racked up a combined 23 wins and finalist spots in 5 different categories. Meredith Whited won the “Pin-It Forward” Leadership Award, and Tatum Brown, Jayla Harper, and Kellie Dukes took home All-American honors. Dukes, an eleventh grader, was also named Top Camp All-American. The star jumper category had Marion finalists Clancey Pearcy, Alex Moyes, Baylee Trammell, Ally Phillips and Gabby Gill. Marion also had a winner in the event from each grade with tenth grader Madison Chesney, eleventh grader Kellie Dukes and twelfth grader Rachel Gaines. The star tumbler category was also filled with Patriots as Emily French, Avery Cook, Sarah Hood, Kamryn Shelton and Rachel Gaines were all named finalists. Marion winners in tumbling were tenth grader Gabby Gill, eleventh grader Kellie Dukes and twelfth grader Clancey Pearcy. Marion had two groups in the Star Stunt category. The group of Chesney, Hood, Harper and Shelton were named finalists, and the group of Gill, Phillips, Pearcy and Coleman won the event. The first opportunity to see these award-winning girls in action at Patriot Stadium will be on August 30, when the Patriot football team will host the Blytheville Chickasaws. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

If there are good things happening in your classroom or building, we want to hear about it. Here are a few examples:

• Exciting field trips
• Guest speakers
• Interactive lesson plans
• Students or staff with remarkable personal stories
• Favorable academic data
• College signings, academic scholarships
• Planned professional development

Send your good stuff with pictures and/or video to Jonnett Gammill at jgammill@msd3.org or Tyler Bennett at tybennett@msd3.org

Marion School District Newsletter will be disseminated monthly. If you would like your news included in the next edition, please shoot an email to jgammill@msd3.org with "newsletter" in the subject line. When submitting news, keep in mind the 5 W's: who, what, why, when, and where. Attach photos and video with your copy.

The deadline to submit information is the 21st of each month.