Week of November 7, 2016 ADAMS ES WINS FUNDING FROM SILVER AND BLACK GIVE BACK P.2 District Family Night engages students and parents - p.3 HOPS young adults visit San Antonio College - p.5 McCollum volleyball creates a tradition of winning - p.7
FUNDING FROM SILVER AND BLACK GIVE BACK Out of 107 submissions from schools and nonprofits across the city, Adams Elementary is one of 34 teams that was selected by the Spurs organization Silver and Black Give Back to participate in the 2016-2017 Team Up Challenge. The selected teams attended a kick-off ceremony with the Spurs Coyote and the Silver Dancers at the ATT Center on Nov. 10. Adams Elementary received a $1,346 check for their community project, which involves planting a school garden to promote healthy living and eating. The garden project was started on a small scale last year through a small grant that was received by Communities in Schools, Team Sponsor and Adams Elementary Social Worker Jennifer Montes explained. This year, the students and Communities in Schools decided they wanted to try to expand the project, so they applied for the Team Up Challenge Grant. The team is composed of 10 fourth and fifth grade students who call their project Dig In. in Schools and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services, Montes added. The group will use the harvest from the garden to create a farmer s market from which the proceeds will be used to reinvest in the garden to create a selfsustaining system. The goal is to provide access to fresh vegetables to the community through the farmer s market which will be run by the students. Additionally, the team hopes to show their peers how to prepare fresh vegetables in their meals and to educate them about the importance of healthy eating through interactive presentations. In April, one group will be crowned the 2016-2017 Team Up Challenge MVP and will be awarded an additional $10,000 from Silver and Black Give Back. Good luck, Adams Elementary! The purpose of Dig In is to create a viable school garden that will be established and maintained by the students along with support from Communities p.2
DISTRICT FAMILY NIGHT ENGAGES STUDENTS AND PARENTS Moreover, representatives from the Geekbus, the DoSeum, SA Reads and the McNay Art Museum joined the event to offer creative activities and information about their services. For Harlandale ISD parent Gina Chavarria, the District Family Night was more than what she expected. This was my first time coming to an event like this and I thought it was great because as a parent, I can bond with my daughters while they learn and have fun, Chavarria said. Her daughters, Danelly and Giselle Chavarria, enjoyed the sci-fi slime activity the most. Harlandale ISD families enjoyed an evening full of learning and fun at the District Family Night held at the Harlandale High School cafeteria on Nov. 9. By squeezing four ounces of glue into a glass bowl, mixing in a bottle and a half of warm water, adding food coloring, mixing one teaspoon of Borax in half a cup of water and slowly adding the solution to the glue mixture, the solution was on its way to becoming slime The last step was to stir the borax solution until the slime started to come together. As part of the event, students in all grade levels made T-shirt designs, Christmas ornaments, sci-fi slime, stop motion animation films, penned poems and much more. It s amazing how something so simple with materials that you have at home can be so fun and interesting, Chavarria said. The district s curriculum and instruction department was on hand to guide the students and parents through the activities. She made sure to take a recipe for the sci-fi slime home. As a parent, it s important for me that they keep doing these kind of activities and experimenting at home, she added. p.3
Harlandale ISD cheer teams win big at competition Two Harlandale ISD cheer teams received a first place plaque and a championship banner at the NCA & NDA Alamo Spirit Championship Battle for Texas Championship hosted at Wagner High School on Nov. 5. Morrill Tiger Cheer Team scored 92 points out of 100 and Harlandale Middle School Cheer Team scored 94 points out of 100. This was Harlandale Middle School s first cheer competition ever and Morrill s first competition of the season. The next competition will be at Cheer Power s Christmas Open Championship at the Freeman Coliseum on Dec. 11. Members of the Morrill Tiger Cheer Team include: Mia Crosby, Isabella Aragon, Katelynn Espinoza, Gracie Ortega, Deven Deluna, Madeliene Garza, Brianna Hernandez, Madelynn Mancillas, Jesanie Guerrero, Zenyda Martinez, Kali Espinoza. Members of the Harlandale Middle School Cheer Team include: Chelsea Guillen, Dominique Dominguez, Shayna Navaira, Avery Green, Hannah Morua, Abbygale Saldana, Hailey Espinoza, Julissa Garcia, Giana Garza, Michelle Salinas, Chloe Esquivel, Jesilyn Triana, Destiny Garcez, Zoey King, Jailene Hernandez. Cheer sponsors are Tami Weinelt (HMS), Stephanie Corona (Morrill), Delilah De La Rosa (HMS and Morrill). p.4
HOPS young adults visit San Antonio College A group of Harlandale Opportunities for Post Secondary (HOPS) young adults recently had the opportunity to experience college life during a Community Based Outing. The Jewel Wietzel Center (JWC) students were able to see how fun yet demanding college life can be. Utilizing Community Based Outings, our young adults are provided the opportunity to generalize many of the skills they learn in HOPS into the community, JWC Special Education teacher Michael Jimenez said. This provides them with a real life understanding of why developing independent and community safety skills are important to successfully transition into their adult lives. The students, job coach and teacher rode the VIA bus to visit San Antonio College (SAC). Once on campus, they took a tour and visited the Lofting Student Center, Moody Learning Center (library) and the Scobee Planetarium. Once the group was done visiting the campus, they walked to Bill Miller s located near SAC and enjoyed lunch. Each student independently ordered their own lunch. When the students were asked about their experience at SAC and if they could do it on their own some of their responses were, It looks hard and It sure is different than at high school or Wietzel. p.5
HARLANDALE ISD STUDENTS LET THEIR VOICE BE HEARD The goal is to teach them that in order to make their community better, they need to give back to the community, Manjarrez said. Rayburn Elementary students also let their voice be heard. Students casted their vote through ipads in private booths on the stage behind the curtain, while the other students watched the results live in the cafeteria. All the students had fun, Rayburn Counselor Nichole Nava said. The expressions on their faces as they were waiting in line to vote were priceless. Their discussions, comments and questions regarding voting were funny and serious. Rayburn Principal Faith Molina explained to each grade level that they were given the opportunity to participate in their civic duty to vote and everyone must respect each other s different opinions. In light of the 2016 presidential election, several Harlandale ISD campuses held mock presidential elections to get students excited about voting. Stonewall Flanders Elementary counselor Joseph Manjarrez used it as an opportunity to teach students about citizenship. We told the kids that in order to be a good citizen they have to do three things: follow the rules of the community, donate their time to volunteering, and to vote, Manjarrez said. So today we gave the students an opportunity to vote as part of overall character building. The cafeteria was set up as a mock polling location with private voting booths. Students in pre-kinder through fifth grade were able to cast their vote for the president of the United States through ipads. Manjarrez hopes the students learned the importance of being a responsible citizen. After selecting their preferred candidate, each student received and I Voted sticker to wear for the day. We wanted students to have an idea of what it is like as an adult and what a difference each individual can make to our country, Nava added. For Harlandale High School Lifeskills Teacher Mark Schaub, the election was an opportunity to teach his lifeskills students about voting. A mock polling site was set up in his classroom and his students facilitated the voting process for the school by handing out ballots. My goal is to get them excited about it so that maybe they might like to volunteer for the Democratic or the Republican Party, Schaub said. And so that when they turn 18 and they are eligible to vote, they will fill out a voter registration card and actually go out and vote for real. p.6
MCCOLLUM VOLLEYBALL CREATES A TRADITION OF WINNING Volleyball Head Coach Rose Ann Martinez has created a tradition of winning at McCollum High School dating back to 2014 when McCollum won their first of three consecutive district championships. Martinez and her team s 2016 season recently came to an end after falling to Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway in the Class 5A Regional Quarterfinal on Nov. 8. The team defeated Gregory Portland and Edcouch- Elsa to reach the regional quarterfinal matchup for the first time since 2002. I m extremely happy that we accomplished what we did. I feel extremely prideful of the program and where we stand now. Of course I never wanted the season to end but I have no regrets, Martinez said. The team accomplished a mission they had set for themselves after last year s first round playoff loss. We started talking about getting past Bi-District the day after we lost last year against Seguin. We literally made it a mission of ours beginning the next day after the loss. When district started, we upped it to the third round and by that time we were having so much fun that it wasn t too hard to convince the girls it could be done, Martinez said. Martinez, a 1989 Harlandale HS graduate, is excited about the program that has been built and for the possibilities the program still has in front of them. The expectations remain the same for next year. Three girls are graduating but tradition never graduates- meaning the mindset, the hard work and the determination to be the successful will still be the expectation, Martinez explained. Martinez and the team would like to thank Principal Jacob Garcia, the McCollum administration, staff and community for the tremendous amount of support the team received this year. p.7
THIS WEEK IN HARLANDALE p. 8