Superintendent Update - October 2013

Watch the Superintendent Update - October 2013 on YouTube:

MISD Superintendent, Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, discusses the upcoming October Parent/Teacher Conference dates, another DSO on the Go event at The Center (November 10) benefiting the MISD Education Foundation, and the JROTC competition (October 5) that will take place at Newsom Stadium.

Mansfield golfer heads to Pebble Beach Tourney

Nicholas Narcisse, a junior at Mansfield High School, is among four local teens to compete in the 2013 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, an official Champions Tour event September 27-29, and televised internationally on Golf Channel. The teens are being sent by First Tee of Fort Worth.

Each participant will be teamed a Champions Tour player and an amateur on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course on Friday and Saturday. The final round will be played on Pebble Beach on Sunday, where the Champions Tour winner will be crowned and the top 23 pro-junior teams will compete for their own championship. Narcisse was also selected to participate in the Coca Cola Champions Challenge on Thursday, September 26 where he was be paired with a Champions Tour Pro and competed for a chance at a $40,000 purse for The First Tee of Fort Worth.

Narcisse got his first tournament win in 2012 at the Pro Duffers Charity Golf Tournament but has four second place finishes and one third place finish. Narcisse currently plays with a 0.8 handicap as he works on continually improving his game. Narcisse is a member of the Junior Advisory Board and has attended The First Tee National Life Skills and Leadership Academy, and the National Advanced Academy. Narcisse is an active volunteer in his church and also had the privilege of playing in a foursome with golf great Lee Trevino a couple of years ago.

About The First Tee of Fort Worth
The First Tee of Fort Worth is the Fort Worth chapter of The First Tee program and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.

Timberview seniors selected for 2014 Army All-American Bowl

Congratulations to seniors Ed Paris and Brandon Simmons, Timberview High School varsity football defensive backs, for being selected for the 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. This prestigious bowl game takes place at the San Antonio Alamodome on January 4 and will be televised on NBC. Only 90 players from across the U.S. are selected each year.

On Thursday, September 26, Paris and Simmons received their jerseys during a special afternoon ceremony at the campus.

(Read related article in the Mansfield News-Mirror.)

October Parent-Teacher Conferences

In early October, Mansfield ISD parents will once again have an opportunity to meet with their student's teachers during the district wide conference times. Campuses have set aside time to invite parents to the school to discuss how things are going this year in the classroom. Please check with your school(s) for specific conference schedule times.

• Thursday, October 10 - Evening conference times available after regular school day.
• Friday, October 11 - Student Holiday & Parent/Teacher Conference opportunity times in the morning. (Teachers are off in the afternoon.) 
• Visit the MISD Calendars page for these and other important dates.
• Download a printable 2013-14 Calendar (PDF).

The Why Behind The What
This marks the third year in a row we've offered dates at all schools for Parent/Teacher Conferences. It's our hope that parents will carve out time from what we know are busy schedules to meet with teachers. We believe that parent involvement is an important component in our mission to ensure educational and personal success by fostering a community built on mutual support and excellence.

Australian Principal of the Year Tours Mansfield High School

Mansfield High School hosted the 2012 Australian Secondary Principal of the Year, Mrs. Shayne Player, on Wednesday, September 18. Mrs. Player is the Principal of the Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, Tumbi Umbi Campus. While the school name may sound confusing, in Australia, the schools are called colleges. Mrs. Player’s campus is similar in student level to our middle schools.

As a prize for being named the Australian Secondary Principal of the Year, Mrs. Player was granted time for a trip around the world for a Professional Learning Sabbatical to visit schools in order to study common principles in high-performing schools. By the time she completes her trip, she will have visited schools in Finland, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and many more.

She is particularly interested in seeing AVID schools that integrate technology. (Her campus is an AVID school, and they are exploring computers on a 1:1 basis with their students similar to our iPad program for high schools.) Since she was interested in seeing a school integrate technology with AVID, she toured a few Mansfield High School classes to see instructional integration of the iPads and learn of some of the experiences we have gained in implementing new technology.

While she was at our campus, she observed classes and spoke very highly of the kinds of things offered to our students. Before she left the school, she shared some thoughts on her visit to the campus and what she's learned on her trip to this and other countries.Watch her interview on YouTube:

 

Read more about Mrs. Shayne Player. Watch a video her campus made about AVID.