Student Fundraising Efforts Rewarded with...Slime?

On October 7, the students of Willie Brown Elementary took part in a Fun Run to raise money for the PTA. For about two weeks leading up to the event, students asked family members, friends and neighbors to sponsor them with a lump sum or $5 per lap. By the end of the run, the students raised almost $25,000!

You may wonder what kept these students motivated throughout their forty-lap course. Was it the pizza party that would be provided to the class in each grade level that raised the most money?

Perhaps.

What about the iPod Touch that would be won by the student who raised the most in the entire school?

That’s probable.

How about the promise that if they did a great job they would be able to watch their P.E. Coach, Principal AND the Superintendent get SLIMED?

DING DING DING!

After the overwhelming success of the event, the slime victims knew their fate was sealed. On the afternoon of October 21, students and teachers of Brown Elementary gathered in the school courtyard to watch Superintendent Dr. Bob Morrison, Principal Kyna Eastlick and P.E. Coach David Johnson get covered in purple, pink and green slime (you can imagine the thunderous applause).

PTA Fundraising Chair Caryn Angus played a big role in organizing the event and she is also credited with convincing Dr. Morrison to take part.

“We know how much he loves the schools and teachers and he knows how much we love Willie Brown Elementary,” said Angus. “He has now proved that he is the coolest Superintendent out there… and he can wear purple slime like no other!” 

Not only was the Fun Run a blast for the students, it was a healthy way to raise money for the school.

When asked if she would volunteer to be slimed again next year, Eastlick replied, “Of course I would! It was for a good cause and it allowed us to show the students how much we appreciated their hard work.”

Aide Sparks Strength through Struggle

Some people may think of a soldier or a firefighter when they hear the words “hero” and “warrior,” but for the staff at Elizabeth Smith Elementary, these words describe their teammate Zondra Stepney.

Stepney has inspired her coworkers at Elizabeth Smith Elementary through the courage she displayed throughout her battle with breast cancer last year. Despite challenging circumstances, she continued to uplift others. Her uplifting spirit and efforts were evident in the Heartbeat Team nominations she received from campus staff.

“She is an inspiration to everyone on the team,” said Ira Okogbodu. “She is always smiling with a good word for everybody, even when she is in pain.”

Stepney’s attitude has made a positive impact on her coworkers, but she finds her own inspiration in the students she works with each day.

“I didn’t want to let breast cancer get me down,” said Stepney. “It was encouraging to come work with these kids because they have disabilities that they have to live with as well.”

In addition to her job as a Special Ed Aide, Stepney is a devoted wife and mother of four. Throughout her illness, she continued to put others first, scheduling all of her doctor’s appointments in the evening so that she did not have to miss a day of work.

“I think there were more days last year that she felt horrible and probably should not have been here, but she fought through it,” said Principal Lea Boiles. “It never showed that she didn’t have the physical endurance to be here.”

The Smith Elementary team offered an outpouring of love and support last March, before Stepney’s surgery. The staff and students planned a surprise pep rally featuring dance tributes, cheers and special care packages for Stepney and her family.

The pep rally in Stepney's honor was titled “Stomping Out Cancer,” which is exactly what she did - with a beautiful smile on her face.

Congratulations to our courageous October 2011 Heartbeat Team Award winner, Zondra Stepney!

About the Heartbeat Team
The Mansfield ISD Heartbeat Team was established to recognize employees who display heart in their lives and inspire other district employees through their actions. Heartbeat Team members are nominated only by other district employees. Winners are selected during the school year from those nominated. Those named to the Heartbeat Team are still eligible for other district honors.

Trustee Inspires Students through Storytelling

Keeping the attention of about 300 middle school students near the end of a long school day might prove to be a daunting task, but MISD School Board Trustee, Raul Gonzalez certainly stood up to the challenge on the afternoon of October 12.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), Gonzalez delivered a presentation to the seventh grade students at Coble Middle School. He talked to them about the rich Hispanic culture in his hometown of El Paso, explaining that family, hard work and determination were fundamental values in his upbringing.

He highlighted the importance of work ethic as he proudly told the story of how his father worked his way up through the ranks at the Post Office until he became the Postmaster, with only a high school education. His father’s tremendous work ethic taught him to persevere in his own job at a law firm, where he has worked for 28 years and is now the Director of Administration.

Gonzalez encouraged students to take advantage of the opportunities surrounding them and to never use the words “I can’t.” After delivering a captivating message about culture, values and hard work, he left the students with one final lesson, “We all come from different backgrounds, but we must always work together.”

(The 8th Grade Advanced Boys Choir kicked off the assembly with their performance of "Viva Tutti") 

 

Kick Chance Raises Cash for Joplin

Della Icenhower Intermediate School student, Kyra (pictured above at right) went through Joplin, MO with her dad this summer and wanted to do something to help. The school decided that they would use the Principal's Extra Point at the Friday, October 7 football game at Newsom Stadium as a way to help the tornado-ravaged community. About 20 staff members decorated a milk jug and collected change. The Icenhower staff member who collected the most change would take the kick at the game instead of the principal. The school raised about $379 dollars, Kyra was able to be down to the field, and teacher Ms. Del Fierro (above left), took the kick.

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The Prinicpal's Extra Point is in its second-year through the Athletics Department. It is an opportunity to give the school principals from our elementary and intermediate campuses a chance to win money for their school's PE department from the MISD High School Athletics Booster Clubs. 

Education Foundation Diamond Ball

The Mansfield ISD Education Foundation Presents: The Diamond Ball on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 6:30 PM at the Omni Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas. Join the Education Foundation and KDFW news anchor Steve Eager, as they honor Chris Huckabee, Philanthropist & CEO of Huckabee, Inc as well as Ashley Purgason, Distinguished Scholar from the 2002 class of Mansfield HS who is now a NASA Researcher.

• Black Tie Optional
• Private Reception for Honored Guests and Table Sponsors
• The event includes Dinner, Dancing, Live Music, Silent and Live Auctions

Single Tickets are available at $125 per person and a limited number of Table sponsors are still available at $2000. RSVP online by October 24, 2011 or contact the MISD Education Foundation office for more information at 817-299-6355.

Student Testing Update - STAAR/EOC

New state testing begins this school year with the implementation of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR The standardized testing program includes tests for students in grades 3–12.

Mansfield ISD will use this blog, the MISD Department of Research, Assessment and Accountability website, as well as information at the campuses to keep parents informed of the changes in student testing.

About STAAR (3-8)

Texas is phasing in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams which will test the same subject areas as the TAKS tests. STAAR testing will begin in March 2012 on these subjects:

• Grades 3 through 8: reading and math
• Grades 4 and 7: writing
• Grades 5 and 8: science
• Grade 8: social studies

End Of Course
Ninth grade in the 2011–2012 school year will be the first class required to take STAAR End Of Course (EOC) assessments. The 12 EOC assessments are:

• English I, English II, English III
• Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
• Biology, Chemistry, Physics
• World Geography, World History, and U.S. History

The test will have three levels of proficiency. Level 1 is for unsatisfactory academic performance, level 2 for satisfactory performance and level 3 for advanced academic performance. State accountability ratings, which will be based largely on STAAR results, have been suspended for the 2011-12 school year.

Source: Texas Education Agency

Additional Resources:

Open publication - Free publishing - More assessment

STAAR - A guide to the High School Testing Program

STAAR - A parent’s guide to the student testing program

Wondering what the STAAR and End of Course exam questions will look like? 

Wonder no more, see the STAAR Released Test Questions.

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On Tuesday, February 28, the Mansfield ISD school board voted to amend the grading guidelines so that the End-of-Course assessments are not calculated in the final course averages for this 2011-2012 school year.

Third Grade Water Safety Classes

All third grade students in the District receive water safety classes at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium. It takes a while to schedule every single class, but by the end of the school year all third graders learn some important lessons in order to have safe experiences in and around public and private pools and other bodies of water.

Simple tips like Look B 4 You Leap (taught with hand signals as a memory tactic) and others are encouraged to be taken home and shared with family members.

The MISD Natatorium is the home for the high school swimming and diving teams, the Mansfield Aquatic Club, as well as Adult Swim and Learn to Swim Class available to the Mansfield ISD community. You can get additional information on the Natatorium website.

Website Service Interruption

The Mansfield ISD website (www.mansfieldisd.org) will be down for maintenance today (Tuesday, October 4) beginning at 4:30 PM. The Technology Department will be working to restore access to the site as quickly as possible. Mansfield ISD online services like Web Mail and Infinite Campus will not be affected by the outage, but you will need to access them via a direct link. We have provided direct links to a few of those services below:

Infinite Campus (Parent Log-in):
https://cst.epm.infinitecampus.org/campusE/portal/mansfield.jsp

Infinite Campus (Teacher Log-in):
https://cst.epm.infinitecampus.org/campusE/mansfield.jsp

TeleParent (Staff):
https://www.teleparent.net/login.php

WebMail (Staff):
http://mail.misdmail.org

As a reminder, the Mansfield ISD Blog and MISD TechNotes Blog are great resources for updates and information during an outage. Thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.

Superintendent Update - October 2011

Dr. Bob Morrison discusses the new STAAR and EOC testing, MISD Parent/Teacher Conference Day, and info on the upcoming district-wide College and Career Night.

(Please note: If you cannot view the above video from inside the MISD network, please use the alternate video portal version.)

Business Group Honors Tipps Elementary

Mansfield ISD is proud to announce that Roberta Tipps Elementary has been named to the Texas Business & Education Coalition (TBEC) 2011 Honor Roll. The staff and students at Tipps Elementary should be proud for being included in this very select group for a fourth year. According to TBEC, of the more than 8,000 Texas public schools, less than 4% are honored.

The TBEC Honor Roll is a prestigious award for sustained, academic excellence in Texas. It recognizes schools that have demonstrated three years of consistent, high performance in all subjects compared to other schools serving similar student populations. TBEC Honor Roll schools have the highest percentage of students performing at the state’s most rigorous standard - commended - in every subject.

Congratulations to Tipps Elementary for earning a place on the Honor Roll through continued hard work and student achievement.