Basketball teams tip off for Kay Yow Cancer Fund

The Mansfield ISD high school basketball programs are raising money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund on Tuesday, November 30 and Tuesday, December 7.

The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund™ is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women's cancers through raising money for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying people for a common cause.

"The late Kay Yow, the Fund's namesake and former North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach, was a past president and founding member of the WBCA, and a galvanizing voice for the Association.Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and passed away on January 24, 2009, after facing her third bout with the disease."
[Women's Basketball Coaches Association] 

"In her 38 years as a head coach at the college-level, Yow is one of only six Division I head women's basketball mentors to achieve 700 career victories. Yow was also the head coach of the 1988 US Olympic Team that won the gold medal in Seoul."
[The V Foundation]

Local Connection
This year the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association has chosen the Kay Yow Cancer Fund as their charity of choice. The girls’ basketball coaches in Mansfield ISD, all members of TGCA, decided it would be a great cause to bring awareness to as well as raise money.

According to Tammy Lusinger, Summit High School Athletic Coordinator and Girls' Basketball Head Coach, the MISD basketball teams will have pink t-shirts for sale for $5.00. They will also pass around buckets for fans to donate. All proceeds will go to the cancer fund.

Details:
Tuesday, November 30 – Mansfield girls play Arlington at Mansfield High School, Timberview girls play Crowley at Timberview High School, Summit boys and girls play Legacy boys and girls at Summit High School.

Tuesday, December 7 – Mansfield girls play North Crowley at Mansfield High School and Timberview boys and girls play Summit at Timberview High School.

Related information: Kay Yow biography

Happy Thanksgiving from Mansfield ISD

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is just a quick post from the Communications Department to share a few things for which we are thankful:

• We're thankful for the 32,223 students we serve in the District.
• We're thankful for the 3,900 teachers, staff, and administrators with whom we work.
• We're thankful for support (and patience) of the parents in the District community.

We hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving Break.

Mansfield ISD will be closed November 22-26. (Note: The MISD Police Department along with our Maintenance and Custodial staff will work through the break so save them some turkey.)

And just in case you were curious, here's some History on Thanksgiving Day:



What are you thankful for?

Peers Making Peace at Shepard Intermediate

Twenty-two fifth and sixth grade Donna Shepard Intermediate School students have completed nine hours of conflict resolution training to officially become drug-free role models and neutral third-parties through a program called Peers Making Peace. The program is designed to help students provide peer mediation services for their peers who lack the skills to successfully resolve their conflicts. The goal of the Peers Making Peace program is to improve the school environment by reducing violence, assaults, discipline referrals, and increasing academic performance.

The program was purchased through an innovative teaching grant awarded by the Mansfield ISD Education Foundation in the fall of 2009. The project title of the grant: Mustang/Colt Care Team - Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary (Colt Mascot) and Donna Shepard Intermediate School (Mustang Mascot) teamed up to submit this grant to address school leadership and character on both campuses.

On Friday, November 12, 2010, twenty-two students received their certificates of completion in a graduation ceremony in the Donna Shepard Intermediate School's library. Parents, teachers, and administrators were on hand to congratulate these students for successfully completing the Peer Mediation Training to become a Peer Mediators at Donna Shepard Intermediate School. (Photo: Jerry Cooper, Shepard Assistant Principal, shakes hands with a new Peer Mediator at the graduation ceremony.)

For more information about the Peers Making Peace program, visit paxUnited - The National Mediation Center website.

Help to reduce gangs and youth violence

Arlington and Mansfield area leaders launched a new collaboration called Our Community, Our Kids to support strategies that reduce gangs and youth violence.


Our Community, Our Kids is a newly formed collaboration that is working toward a coordinated and comprehensive plan for addressing the needs of youth. Its purpose is to address gangs and violence, and increase support for youth in southeast Tarrant County.


According to a release by the City of Arlington, the initiative grew out of a 2006 United Way Arlington study on child abuse and neglect. The effort was renewed when area leaders agreed to focus their collective strengths and resources on providing at-risk youth with alternatives to gangs as part of a Gang Summit and Gang Intervention Committee hosted by the Arlington school district in 2008.


The collaborative effort held a kick-off breakfast on September 30, 2010 at the Mac Bernd Professional Development Center in Arlington ISD. MISD Superintendent, Dr. Bob Morrison, was unable to attend the event, but sent the following supportive video message:

Our Community, Our Kids from MISDTV on Vimeo.

The partners in the effort include the City of Arlington, Arlington ISD, City of Mansfield, Mansfield ISD, Arlington Police Department, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, YMCA of Arlington, Arlington Alliance for Youth, Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, Cornerstone Baptist Church, United Way of Tarrant County, Tarrant County Juvenile Services and the University of Texas at Arlington.

In case you are wondering why MISD is involved in this effort since it seems primarily focused to our north, 40% of the students in the District come from the city of Arlington.

We'll provide more information as this initiative developes. Check out the program flyer (PDF) for more information.

Related: "Our Community, Our Kids" Launches to Support Youth