Kiwanis-sponsored student clubs help Meals on Wheels

Last fall, the Asa Low Jr. Intermediate School Builders Club discussed community projects they wanted to support during the holiday season. The club agreed to help organize the annual Kiwanis of Mansfield/Afternoon holiday baskets for Meals on Wheels (MOW) recipients in Mansfield. Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County “promotes the dignity and independence of older adults, persons with disabilities, and other homebound persons by delivering nutritious meals.”

Calling on ideas they found on the MOW website, the members decided first on a fundraiser. All Asa Low students were invited to make a cash donation that would be used to purchase useful gifts. Over $230 was donated by students; the club purchased lighted magnifying glasses and long-handled grabbers for the MOW clients in Mansfield. Students that made a donation decorated paper cars, which are displayed on a club created paper road near the Asa Low Builders Club meeting room. Next, the club solicited help from several other Kiwanis-sponsored clubs in Mansfield. The Timberview High School Key Club members made fleece scarves that would be attached to the grabbers. The Erma Nash Elementary K-Kids and the Legacy Key Club members made Holiday cards. When it was time to put everything together, the Mansfield High School Key Club members joined the Asa Low Builders Club at a meeting to help out. Finally, Kiwanis of Mansfield Afternoon members assisted at the Wesley Mission Center in distributing the gifts to the local Meals on Wheels drivers.

A card from Meals on Wheels offered thanks from the Mansfield clients who received these gifts: “Thanks to each and every one of you who made it possible for our Meals on Wheels clients in Mansfield to receive such lovely gifts this holiday season.”

This project truly exemplified the Kiwanis Builders Club vision to develop competent, capable, caring leaders through the vehicle of service.

Guest post submitted by Cheryl Litke, Kiwanis of Mansfield Afternoon
www.kanmansfield.org

Legacy HS embraces Pink Glove Dance opportunity

Mansfield ISD coordinated with Methodist Mansfield Medical Center to help spread the word about breast cancer awareness and prevention through The Pink Glove Dance. The MISD community was invited to join us in starring in a Pink Glove Dance video at the Legacy HS vs. Bryan Adams HS football game on September 13 at Vernon Newsom Stadium. Breast cancer survivors were also encouraged to attend and dance on the field at halftime.

As part of the Pink Glove Dance 2012 competition, Methodist Mansfield’s video will be posted on www.pinkglovedance.com on October 12 along with the videos of the other participants to be viewed by the public. Viewers can vote on their favorite video (voting requires a Facebook® account). The top three winners receive a donation in their name to the breast cancer charity of their choice, such as the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The winners will be announced November 2 on pinkglovedance.com.

Special thanks to the Legacy HS teen leadership and student council students, cheerleaders, drill team, band, staff and game attendees who all put on pink gloves to join in on the fun. Many of the students wore the LHS Pink Fest t-shirts as a sign of solidarity and spirit for the breast cancer survivors and halftime video event. (Each year, LHS students in Teen Leadership classes and Student Council rally the school and community to raise money for breast cancer research and share awareness through Pink Fest programming and events. Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised during activities for the cause.)

Patriot Day: Remembering September 11

September 11 is a day forever changed in the history of the United States of America.

"On September 11, 2001, a bright autumn day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. Thousands of innocent men, women, and children perished when mighty towers collapsed in the heart of New York City and wreckage burned in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. They were family and friends, service members and first responders -- and the tragedy of their loss left pain that will never fade and scars our country will never forget.

More than a decade later, the world we live in is forever changed. But as we mark the anniversary of September 11, we remember what remains the same: our character as a Nation, our faith in one another, and our legacy as a country strengthened by service and selflessness." - Presidential Proclamation -- Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, 2012

Several Mansfield ISD campuses held Patriot Day events to mark the anniversary of September 11.

Willie Brown Elementary prepared a morning tribute to those who lost their lives and the heroes of 9/11. Students prepared patriotic songs to sing and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from the school helped with the flag-raising ceremony. Parents and family members who served or are serving in the military, as well as firefighters, police officers and paramedics were all invited to attend and participate in the tribute.
[Brown Elementary Patriot Day 2012 Photo Gallery]

Other campuses encouraged students and staff to wear red, white, and blue and held patroit music, flag-raising ceremonies, or had classroom activities as well as moments of silence and reflection.

D.P. Morris Elementary Pre-K students cerebrate Patriot Day

Video Tribute

Frontier HS senior Savannah Vasquez shot and produced a documentary project in her Video Production class last year as a junior. The project was completed earlier in 2012 during student preparations for SkillsUSA conference. Savannah conducted a phone interview with the widow of a police officer who perished in the World Trade Center collapse during has rescue efforts. She also interviewed Mansfield Police officers for this production. Savannah wanted to do something special for that project and obviously went above and beyond the class 'prompt'.

From the video decription by Savannah Vasquez: "America was moved by the events that took place on September 11, 2001. We all know the story, but many don't know this story. "Chances" is a documentary about a miraculous event that took place among the tragedy."


"Chances": A 9/11 Story from Savannah Vasquez on Vimeo.
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Update: Photos from the Willie Brown Elementary Patriot Day morning event were used in the WFAA news' feature, Remembering 911: A Photojournal

 

School Supply Time - Common Ground Network

Each year, hundreds of Mansfield ISD families receive help with school supplies through Common Ground Network’s School Supply Program. 

Sounds great! How does it work?

The Common Ground Network works diligently to find families that qualify for assistance and provide each child with a bag of school supplies (about $30 per child) and a Payless Shoe Store voucher for a new pair of shoes. The organization purchases many of the supplies in bulk, to keep the costs as low as possible. 

The collection process begins in May to ensure that all qualifying students receive the necessary supplies by August. Volunteers from throughout the community will come together in August to prepare and distribute the supplies before school starts. 

Does Your Family Need Help Purchasing School Supplies? Saturday, May 19, 2012

Necesita Su Familia Ayuda Para La Compra De Articulos Escolares?

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How can I help?

If your organization would like to support this program, send your tax deductible donation, made payable to Common Ground Network (Memo: School Supplies) to:

Common Ground Network 
P.O. Box 1049
Mansfield, TX 76063

Contributors’ names will appear in the Mansfield News-Mirror as a Mansfield children’s supporter. The Common Ground Network will also provide a letter to each contributor for tax purposes. 

In order for the organization to determine the number of students they will be able to assist,donations must be received by June 30. 

Remember, when it comes to promoting the success of Mansfield ISD students, no amount of support is too small!

More about the Common Ground Network:

The Common Ground Network is an association of churches and support agencies in the Mansfield community who work together to coordinate programs that effect needy families throughout the Mansfield ISD. Each year, they join together to coordinate a number of different programs; food drives to support local pantries, holiday giving for children and two summer programs, School Supplies and Feed the Kids for Summer. 

For more information, visit the website or contact Common Ground Network School Supply program coordinators, Chad Crafton (chad.crafton@gmail.com) or Sue Gallaher (tortuga_mike@sbcglobal.net).
The Common Ground Network can be reached at 817-240-3509.

Common Ground is a non-profit agency. All donations are tax deductible. 
Mansfield ISD is a partner with the Common Ground Network. 

Helping Over 14,000 Smiles

Guest post by Beth Light, President 2011-12 MISD Council of PTAs
According to a surgeon general’s report, tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease. Additionally, school nurses say it’s common for children in our community to not own a toothbrush. To help fight this problem and in support of National Children’s Dental Health Month, the Children’s Oral Health Coalition, led by Cook Children’s, hosted its fifth annual Drive for a Smile toothbrush collection drive in February. 

Mansfield ISD was asked to participate in the Drive for a Smile toothbrush drive during the month of February. Jane Latimer of Cook Children's coordinated with the Mansfield ISD Council of PTAs to inform the schools of the drive.

For the last two years, the MISD schools have participated. Local PTAs coordinate the donation drive with the help of student groups, counselors, teachers, school and central office administrators, and various MISD departments. This year, our schools and departments donated over 14,000 toothbrushes.

Our largest donor was Mansfield High School. Coach Patton coordinated the toothbrush drive with the assistance of the Teen Leadership classes. Students visited classrooms and discussed the importance of the toothbrush drive. MHS donated over 5,000 toothbrushes.

We want to recognize and say thanks to all the MISD schools and MISD Departments for their hard work and generous donations. And, a big THANK YOU to all the students and parents who donated.

We want to offer a special recognition for these schools:

Elementary Schools:

• Nancy Neal - over 2,000
• Janet Brockett - over 1,000
• Roberta Tipps - over 600
• Willie Brown - over 500

Intermediate Schools:

• Della Icenhower - over 200
• Cross Timbers - over 100

Middle Schools:

• Danny Jones - over 400
• Brooks Wester - over 200

High Schools:

• Mansfield - over 5,000
• Summit - over 600

Mansfield Early Childhood PTA donated over 400.

Mansfield ISD Council of PTAs and Cook Children's say THANK YOU to all the schools that participated, spent the time coordinating the toothbrush drive and to everyone who donated a toothbrush. We really appreciate all the time and effort spent on the toothbrush drive.

Photo by photobunny via Flickr Creative Commons

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.

Students show respect for fallen local soldier

This morning, the funeral procession for SPC Jesse W. Dietrich (a former MISD student) took place along Hwy 1187, Main St., and Broad Street in its way to First Baptist Mansfield Church. According to a release, 20-year-old US Army 10th Mountain SPC Jesse W. Dietrich was killed in action on August 25, 2011 in Kandahar province, during a battle with enemy forces who attacked his unit using small arms fire.

Jesse Dietrich attended Tarver-Rendon Elementary, Donna Shepard Intermediate, Rogene Worley Middle, and attended Summit High School.

Schools along the route took some time out of the morning to send students outside out of respect for the fallen soldier and his family.

Sheppard Elementary, Shepard Intermediate, and Erma Nash Elementary brought students outside anticipating the funeral procession.

Sheppard Elementary

Nash Elementary

At Legacy High School, the Bronco Battalion JROTC cadets showed their respects with an Honor Guard while almost the entire student body lined the school's front sidewalk.

Legacy High School

“As a parent, I feel for any family that loses a loved one. As an American, I have tremendous gratitude for those who have chosen to put their life on the line to defend the principles of this country,” Principal David Wright said. “As a principal, I have a great pride in seeing our students and staff recognize that “it is not about me, it is about others.” (Quoted from The Rider Online.)

Central Admin staff as well as Maintenance and Facilities staff came out in front of their respective complexes as the procession rolled by.

This community should be proud of these students and they way they all showed the proper respect for this fallen local soldier. Many others from local businesses, the City of Mansfield and community members also lined the route to honor Dietrich and his family.
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Jesse Dietrich served with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Drum, New York. He joined the Army in March 2009 and arrived at Fort Drum in July 2010 to join the 10th Mountain Division.

His awards and decorations include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Creasing for a Good Cause: 'Cranes for Kids'

Thousands of children were affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and many are left with nothing. When Patricia Londono, a 6th grade Science teacher at Asa Low Jr. Intermediate, heard of a unique opportunity to offer assistance she quickly enlisted the help of her students.

The Cranes for Kids program is meant to empower children to help other kids in need by using their creativity in the art of folding paper origami cranes. Oshkosh B’Gosh has sponsored this relief effort and will donate one article of children’s clothing per paper crane (up to 50,000 cranes).

Two sixth grade teams (Orissa and Himalayas) swung into action, with a goal of folding 1,000 origami cranes for this worthy cause.

“I think sometimes we take clothing and everything we have for granted,” said sixth grader Carrigan Hudgins. “I think the people of Japan are going through a very hard time and it’s important that we do all we can to help them.”

Students studied a “How-To” video about origami and began folding as quickly as possible. After a couple of weeks, they had produced more than triple their goal amount.

“It’s amazing! We’ve folded between 3,500 and 4,000 cranes,” said Ms. Londono. “Students are still bringing handfuls of cranes to me!”

Paper cranes are considered a symbol of great prosperity in the Japanese culture. According to ancient Japanese legend, a group of 1,000 paper origami cranes has the power to grant a wish for someone.

“The students love the idea of helping other kids,” said Londono. “It is our hope that we make many wishes come true for the victims of Japan.”

The Low Intermediate flock of paper cranes will be delivered to the Oshkosh store at Grapevine Mills Mall at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2011.

Mary Orr Student Council Helps Old Bikes Find New Homes

In these tough economic times, there are endless opportunities to lend a helping hand to someone in need. Although we may be facing financial challenges of our own, there are still many ways we can make a positive impact in the lives’ of others.

The Student Council members of Mary Orr Intermediate demonstrated that vision of goodwill by hosting the “Wheelie Big Bike Drive,” benefitting a local nonprofit organization called Pedal Power.

Pedal Power, whose motto is, “help us put the 'cycle' in recycle,” is based in North Texas and was founded by mountain bike enthusiasts. The volunteer organization is dedicated to collecting, refurbishing and distributing second-hand bicycles to those in need locally and abroad.

The Student Council members of Mary Orr put the pedal to the metal to plan, promote and execute the bike drive. Blake Lindsey, the Student Council sponsor played a key role in the process.

“It was a pleasure for the Student Council to carry out its mission of serving our community and world by working with Pedal Power,” said Student Council sponsor Blake Lindsey. “Their organization is dedicated to helping others both locally and abroad.”

Weeks of hard work culminated on the chilly afternoon of March 5. Despite the brisk breeze, many warm-hearted Mansfield residents came out to support the Student Council students in this worthy cause.

Among the supporters was Principal Alma Martinez, who braved the weather to facilitate the event.

At the close of the event, the students were proud to present a collection of 40 bicycles as well as $100. Congratulations to these students, whose hard work amounted to a “wheelie” generous gesture!

Legacy High School Lip Dub for Cancer Patient

After three weeks of rehearsal and preparation, Ethan Hallmark, Legacy’s 2011 L.U.C.K. Week recipient, viewed the lip dub created by Legacy clubs, sports teams and organizations. The “one-take” video debuted at the Miss LHS pageant and then shown at the pep rally in Ethan’s honor.

L.U.C.K. Week stands for Legacy United in Caring and Kindness and was held March 7-11.

Student Council and Legacy Student Media combined talents to make a lip dub music video for the L.U.C.K. Week adoptee, Ethan Hallmark. The two songs used were Don’t Stop Believin’ by Glee and Get Back Up by Toby Mac, Ethan’s favorite singer.

Read more on Legacy High School's student newspaper, The Rider Online.

Timberview High School's HOG Week 2011

Timberview High School puts on an annnual HOG Week which stands for Helping Others Thru Giving. Thanks to THS for the following info on the history of the program and plans for this year.

Here is the HISTORY OF THE HOG:

• In 2007, Timberview Student Council wanted to give back to the Mansfield Community, support a child in need and have fun while doing it! Thus HOG Week was created! HOG Week stands for 'Helping Others Thru Giving.' Collectively we have raised $63,000 supporting young children & organizations across the world! It is an exciting way to educate teens and our community about the importance of giving and positively affecting the life of someone in need...making wishes come true!
• In 2006, THS partnered with Make-A-Wish and sent a young boy diagnosed with Sickle-Cell Anemia to the Pro Bowl.
• In 2007, THS supported a faculty member's son, involved in a four-wheeling accident and is now successfully adjusting to life as a paraplegic.
• In 2008, THS partnered with Make-A-Wish and sent a young girl diagnosed with Wilms Tumor to Disney World.
• In 2009/10, THS partnered with TOMS Shoes and Make-A-Wish, sending over 500 shoes to children across the world, assisted in the start of 'Leah's Legacy 5K Run' supporting our '08 HOG Week recipient and helped send a Make-A-Wish recipient to Washington, D.C....all student led.

2011 HOG Information:
This year, our 10-year-old recipient, Hayley wishes to go to Disney World! And we are going to make it happen in cooperation with Make-A-Wish. Hayley has been diagnosed with severe mitral stenosis.
 
Student Council has an amazing week jam-packed with everything from messy pep rallies to a male beauty pageant - event after event to make memories and raise money for a great cause.
 
(HOG Week starts Friday, March 4 - Friday, March 11) HOG WEEK SCHEDULE: We look forward to seeing you all at our fun-filled week of crazy HOG events! Please view our calendar for dates, times, locations and prices! If you have any questions, please see Ms. Mills.
 
Also, read The Outlook, THS student newspaper, story on HOG Week.