Superintendent's Update e h t All st e t a L!! s New January 25, 2019
At Monday night s board meeting, we celebrated School Board Appreciation month. Student representatives from each campus gave a presentation to our board thanking them for all they do for our school district. Our kids did a great job!! In my opinion, we have the best school board in the State. Each board member works extremely hard to make Van ISD the best it can be, and the decisions they make each month are made in the best interest of our students and our district. A huge thanks to our board Scott Thomas, President; Lesley Goode, Vice-President; Kevin Reed, Secretary; Dean Dike, Member; Michael Johnson, Member; Shannon Johnson, Member; and Mark McClanahan, Member. Also at Monday night s board meeting, the VISD Education Foundation revealed the bronze plaque now hangs in the entry at Van High School for The Bill & Barbara McMillan Dual Credit Scholarship. They also presented Mrs. McMillan with a replica of the plaque. After seeing a report on the Foundation s dual credit scholarship program, Mrs. McMillan reached out to the Foundation and generously offered to fund the Foundation s expense of this ever growing program in memory of her late husband, Mr. Bill McMillan. The McMillan s have always been strong advocates for education and have always held firm to the belief that education is the great equalizer. We are so thankful for their generosity to the students of Van ISD as well as their belief that each and every child deserves the opportunity for a better future through higher education. Congratulations to our Vandal Cheerleaders and their coach, Elizabeth Harvey! Last Friday, the cheerleaders competed at the UIL State Championship. They placed 26 th out of 80 teams. We are proud of our Vandals. Way to go ladies!! Sgt. Jean Dark with DPS gave a very informative presentation to our parents last night about the dangers of vaping and how the vaping industry is targeting our youth. We had approximately 25 people attend the meeting. She presented a lot of great information and we are hopeful that our parents will begin discussing this issue with their children. Sgt. Dark has agreed to speak to all of our students in grades 4 through 12 in class-sized groups. Our principals will begin coordinating these meetings for this semester.
VHS students participated in a student athletic trainer workshop at TJC coordinated by the East Texas Athletic Trainer Association in January where they learned about the healthcare profession by trivia games, having a Q&A session with college students, and visiting with vendors. Students had the opportunity to investigate their college options while exploring yet another career path and asking questions regarding the application and admission processes. The workshop attendees included Taylor Crow, Kennedy Dunn, Maya Wigfall and Alexxis Zarate, who are looking forward to another workshop coming up in February. The UIL Academic Team and Speech/Debate Team traveled to Lindale High School this past weekend to compete against 45 other schools. The following individuals and teams placed in their events: Spelling and Vocabulary Caleb Phillips placed 1 st, Spelling and Vocabulary Team placed 3 rd ; Social Studies Stian Du Preez placed 1 st, Tristan Baumgardner placed 2 nd, Melissa Lopez placed 3 rd, Allison Horton placed 4 th, Caleb Phillips placed 5 th, Social Studies Team placed 1 st. The Speech and Debate Team also competed in Lindale. The following students placed in their events: Poetry Haylee Dangerfield placed 4 th ; Prose Bryant Cox placed 1 st, Haylee Dangerfield placed 5 th ; Congressional Debate Tino Landaverde placed 3 rd, Carlee Dillion placed 4 th. Congratulations to all!! Our kindergarten students raised $1,027.37 to send to the kindergarten program at Ponderosa Elementary in Paradise, California. Project KINDNESS MAKES A DIFFERENCE was a great success! If any school knows the value of outside schools helping out during a traumatic time, it is J.E. Rhodes Elementary. We are proud to be in a position to give back! Lou Ann Ayers taught her students about the pulmonary system this past week. Her students were able to work with PIG lungs. Check out all of the cool pictures and the awesome looks on our students faces. January 27 January 28 January 29 January 30 February 1 February 2 Yalonda Perkins VMS Susan O Bleness - INT Stephane Kirkpatrick VMS Alynda Davis VMS Jennifer Gable ADMIN Yolanda Perez CUSTODIAN Stephanie Williams INT Thomas Robertson - VPD
DATE TIME Event January 25 Tennis (V) @ Ennis Tournament Basketball Boys (JV,9,V) @ Mabank Basketball Girls (JV,V,9) @ Mabank January 29 January 31 February 1 4:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Basketball Boys (JV,9,V) vs. Athens Basketball Girls (JV,V,9) vs. Athens Soccer @ Mabank Tennis (JV) @ John Tyler Tournament Basketball Girls (7,8) @ Wills Point Basketball Boys (7,8) vs. Wills Point Basketball Boys (9) @ Eustace Basketball Girls (JV,V,9) vs. Canton SENIOR NIGHT Basketball Boys (JV,9,V) vs. Canton Soccer vs. Mineola February 4 4:30 p.m. Basketball Girls (7,8) @ Brownsboro February 5 Basketball Girls (JV,V,9) @ Wills Point Basketball Boys (JV,9,V) @ Wills Point Soccer @ Athens February 7 Tennis (JV) @ Corsicana Tournament Basketball Boys (7,8) vs. Brownsboro February 8 Tennis (V) @ Kilgore Tournament Basketball Boys (9,JV,V) @ Brownsboro Soccer @ Kemp February 9 Basketball Boys (7,8) @ Mabank Tournament February 11 Basketball Boys (9) vs. Eustace February 12 Tennis (JV) @ Kilgore Tournament Basketball Boys (9,JV,V) vs. Mabank SENIOR NIGHT Soccer @ Bullard February 14-16 Softball (V) @ Forney Tournament Tennis (V) @ Corsicana Tournament February 15 Soccer @ Cumberland Academy
School Board Appreciation
Bill and Barbara McMillan Dual Credit Scholarship
Vandal Cheerleaders UIL State Competition
Student Athletic Training Workshop @ TJC
Mrs. Ayers' Vandals