Program Notes
MONTH: December 2010
SCHOOL: McAdams Jr. High
Holiday Spirit
Communities In Schools was in gift giving mode the month of December. With
30 volunteers Communities In Schools was in gift giving mode the month of
December. With 30 volunteers and over $900 dollars raised by McAdams’ Teen
Leadership class, CIS was able to adopt 40 students for Christmas.
Students in need of Christmas gifts were asked to fill out a wish list
with gift item ideas, clothing sizes, as well as favorite colors, food,
music/movies, etc. CIS matched 30 students with volunteers and shopped
with Teen Leadership at Target for the remaining 10.
All students received at least one $40 gift item and new clothes, but many
volunteers went above and beyond the minimum dollar amount. CIS was also
able to provide grocery gift cards to five families with the help of
Dickinson’s District Social Worker and Teen Leadership. Parents came to
the school to pick up their children’s gifts the week before winter break.
CIS delivered gifts midweek to families who could not make it to the
school due to lack of transportation. Many thanks and hugs were given for
the gift assistance. One student even wrote to CIS – “Thank you for being
a good person to me. Without your help, I don’t think I would have gotten
the stuff you are giving me. Thank you again and Merry Christmas!”
In addition to the Christmas cheer, McAdams was visited by Smile
Programs…the Mobile Dentists at the beginning of the month. 34 students
were seen by the doctor and dental hygienist for basic dental care,
including two students from Dickinson High School and two from Clear Lake
High School. Due to the great teamwork between Smile and CIS, the day ran
smoothly and quickly, and every child was seen.
CIS also attended a field trip with the Gator Girls club to UHCL’s
production of The Nutcracker. The girls’ were able to take a backstage
tour before the show and meet the dancers after. None of the girls had
seen The Nutcracker before and were in awe of all the detailed costumes
and dance numbers.
At the following week’s Gator Girls’ meeting, CIS taught a lesson on
healthy relationships/teen dating violence. CIS had been presented with a
partner violence situation between two eighth grade students earlier in
the year and felt the need to raise awareness of the red flags of abusive
relationships, as these girls begin to enter into more serious and
intimate relationships. Much of the lesson was a big eye-opener for the
girls and provided a way to equip them with the critical thinking skills
necessary to make healthy choices regarding romantic relationships. CIS
hopes the girls will continue to ask questions on the subject and have the
courage to seek help if needed.
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SCHOOL: Clear View
“A Season for Family”
This holiday season brought CIS staff the usual tasks of sharing food,
warm clothing, and nominal gifts and gift cards for food and shoes with
students’ families. Those rattled by a recent job loss, those who have
been struggling financially for some time, those with a recent divorce or
illness, all have been trying to get through this difficult time. While
these found support from the generous benefactors to CIS through the CIS
staff conduit, students at this campus came together to support one of
their own. During the holiday season, one of our campus’ family tragically
and unexpectedly experienced a family death. Students came together to
offer what they could with a fundraiser and lunch, surrounding the family
with their condolences and support. Remembering ways we can help each
other, and celebrating the gift of each other at our campus embodied the
true spirit of the season.
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SCHOOL: K.E. Little Elementary
All Aboard the Polar Express!
As a part of the Parental Involvement Committee CIS helped to coordinate
and facilitate this year’s Polar Express Reading Night. Over 600 students
and parents showed up in their pajamas to hear KELES staff and volunteers
read timeless holiday favorites. The KELES storyteller’s club also
performed for the students and guests. We even had author Ernie Deats come
out and read from his book A Kid’s Tale from the Prairie and talk to the
students.
CIS treated all of the attendees to hot cocoa while the staff provided
cookies for a thoroughly authentic Polar Express experience. The CIS
coordinator even showed up in her PJs! During this time students and
families could also shop at the “Penguin Patch” Christmas shop where they
could purchase gifts for family members. Thanks to all of the KELES
faculty, DHS PALS, ALBA, PTA, the KELES Cafeteria Manager Teri Leutdke,
and all of the other volunteers who helped make this event a great
success. I am certain that all of the students at K.E. Little will never
forget their ride on the Polar Express!
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SCHOOL: Clear Brook High School
Holiday Wish Tree Program an Awesome Success!
A Christmas tree was placed in the teacher’s lounge, first floor at Clear
Brook High School around the 1st of December. Ornaments denoting students
and sibling’s ages, grades and 3 possible gift items with a clarifying
number were placed on the tree. Emails were sent, flyers placed in staff
boxes and announcements made at faculty meetings so that Clear Brook staff
could be informed and invited to select an ornament from the tree and
purchase gifts for a particular student and/or sibling. Individuals that
selected ornaments signed up in the CIS office and/or sent email to the
CIS caseworker. Null-Lairson, P.C., Clear Brook’s new corporate sponsor,
assisted with this program by providing the tree, tree skirt and
ornaments. Our corporate sponsor liaison, Amanda Eaves, also removed 13
ornaments from the wish tree for Null-Lairson, P.C. staff to adopt.
For this particular event, non-perishable food was donated by the
Friendswood rotary and Clear Brook PAL’s for making holiday food baskets.
Null Lairson, P.C. also assisted with this event by generously donating
holiday hams to be placed in the food baskets. The hams were delivered to
Clear Brook by Celina Miller another Null-Lairson, P.C. staff member who
assists with the adopt-a-school program. Approximately 50 people were
assisted by this holiday program. One family has 8 children and all of the
children were able to receive presents. The CIS office was full with not
only wrapped gifts but also bikes, games and stuffed animals (see attached
pictures).
Several home visits were made by CIS and the UHCL intern delivering food
baskets, hams and gifts. A number of parents also came to Clear Brook and
picked up the gifts and food. Several parents became quite emotional when
receiving the gifts, ham and food for their families. A couple of the
families have been struggling since Ike and have had difficulties getting
back on their feet. Other families have had parents out of work. The CIS
worker was also able to take up an anonymous donation which amounted to
$100.00 for a fellow CCISD staff member that is a single parent with 2
children that had suffered a recent family crisis and financially
difficulty. This entire program was a wonderful occasion of helping others
and bringing joy to families in need in difficult financial times.
The response to this program was tremendous with Secret Santa’s rushing
about Clear Brook wrapping gifts and insuring that they had bought items
that the student or child would enjoy.
Upon returning from the holiday break, several students brought in thank
you notes to show their appreciation for the gifts that they received. One
parent also sent a note of thanks. I believe that this program will become
an annual event at Clear Brook.
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SCHOOL: Clear Creek High School
SCHOOL HOLIDAY SPIRIT
December found Clear Creek High School full of holiday spirit. Many
organizations on campus were involved in service projects benefiting
families here on campus as well as families in the community. Communities
In Schools (CIS) staff was also affected by the spirit and organized
several community service projects to benefit families here on our home
campus.
CIS held a canned food drive beginning December 1 and running through
December 15. Decorated collection boxes were set up in each SLC office as
well as the Counseling Center and the front office. Students, teachers and
staff were asked to bring canned and other non-perishable food items which
were to be donated to needy families here on campus (identified by CIS
staff). During the two week span, the Creek family donated enough food
items to benefit four of our families; each family received several large
boxes filled to overflowing with food.
In addition, CIS staff organized and held a “Candy Cane Gram” sale
December 7th and 9th. The large candy canes were generously donated by HEB
Grocery. Candy canes were sold during all lunch periods and monies raised
were donated to Interfaith Caring Ministries to benefit their annual
Christmas program. Students were given the opportunity to purchase candy
canes for $ 1.00 and have the “Candy Cane Gram” sent to their friends or
teachers with a note attached. The sale raised a total of $150.00.
CIS staff, in conjunction with the Clear Creek High School ROTC, collected
Christmas gifts for three needy families from our school. Staff identified
the families who needed assistance for the holidays and gathered
information regarding wish lists for the children and adults. Gifts were
bought and wrapped by the students enrolled in ROTC as well as teachers
and staff. The generosity of everyone was overwhelming and delivery of all
the gifts had to be done in three separate trips. CIS staff received many
hugs and dried many tears when delivering the presents to the families and
was assured by all the parents that this holiday was going to be a great
one after all.
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SCHOOL: Barber Intermediate
“Don’t forget your passport”
Though the weather outside is frightfully warm in Texas during the winter
months, winter lessons at Barber Middle School are delightful. Our
students were given a passport around the world, and they never had to
leave the halls of BMS to be educated about cultural and ethnic
diversities. Students were given the opportunity to gain knowledge of the
different geographic locations around the world, understand different
foods eaten during Christmas in diverse cultures, and they learned a host
of holiday customs from around the world. Our international travelers had
the chance to play games and take part in other hands on activities such
as a yodeling contest. Each student learned how to use a passport to get
into different countries. For each country visited their passports were
stamped. Staff members assisted their students dwell into different
cultures by dressing in tradition gear for a specific country.
Students who participate in Lunch Bunch with Mrs. Sandoval and Ms. Holman
not only visited countries around the world, but we learned about strange
Christmas traditions, the origin of Christmas, Christmas lights
technology, the life of a Christmas tree, fruit cakes, ginger bread
houses, and we even tracked Santa’s sleigh flight on Christmas Eve. We
also celebrated by decorated Christmas cookies and we faced the challenge
of the “Ultimate Christmas Quiz”. Do you know what wild kingdom animal is
most wanted for Christmas? Well our students do.
With all the fun and celebrating, we also did our best to insure our
students and their family’s had a worry free holiday break. We continued
our tradition of having some of our students adopted by staff members,
Christmas dinners were donated, and thanks to Payless shoes some or
students were given the opportunity to get a new pair of shoes.
As always, it was a busy month at BMS. We have proven our dedication to
educating our students by stepping outside the box and most of all doing
it while having fun.
Month: September 2010
School: Bayside Intermediate
The Knights New Coming
This August, Bayside Intermediate, along with Clear Falls High School made
history. Education Village is not only the most unique campus in Clear
Creek ISD, but it is the second of its kind to open in the United States.
Education Village students range from pre-school to 12th grade.
Communities In Schools – Bay Area was more than proud to be apart of
history. CIS had the honor of launching the dropout prevention program at
Bayside Intermediate. The Program is a great need at Bayside considering
30 percent is economically disadvantaged. Even before classes started CIS
was aiding families in need with school supplies and school clothes. When
there was not adequate attire in the clothes closet, CIS turned to
Operation School Bell put on by Assistance League of Bay Area. Families
were then able to clothe their children for school. Being the first year
CIS is in Bayside the agency is spent the first two weeks of school
getting to know the students along with the faculty and staff. Bayside
staff and CIS are joined together in the mission “to surround students
with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school, and
achieve in life”. CIS has great and exciting things planned for Bayside
Knights and looks forward to seeing the mission carried out.
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School: Clear View
“Nursing Students Ready to Fly High”
A group of promising nursing students joined Communities In Schools staff
for a field trip to go to “Real World Houston.” These students, officers
in the Health Occupations Student Association, traveled in the Communities
In Schools van to the Houston Medical Center to participate and prepare
for their upcoming campus wide blood drive. At this workshop, cosponsored
by Memorial Hermann Hospital and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center,
students learned about the need for blood in our community and the steps
required to host a successful high school blood drive. Afterward students
participated in leadership and team building sessions, enjoyed lunch, and
took a tour of Memorial Hermann Hospital. Students visited the Pediatric
Dialysis Unit, Child Life Centers, the Ronald McDonald House wing and the
Life Flight Helipad. At the Helipad, students spoke with Flight Nurses and
Pilots who shared their career paths, and the rewards of being able to
care for patients in the mobile emergency rooms that are the Life Flight
Helicopters. Our students are looking forward to giving back to the
community in a meaningful way, helping to replenish the over 1,000 units
of blood needed every day along the Texas Gulf Coast.
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School: Bayside Intermediate
READING TO MOSSMAN
This month CIS Bayside Intermediate hooked up with Mossman elementary as
the KNIGHT FORCE group read to the pre-K class. This year the KNIGHT FORCE
is working on various issues, one of them being self esteem. Self-esteem
is related to student’s feelings of belonging to a group and being able to
adequately function in everyday life. CIS staff came up with idea of
reading to elementary age children, and how wonderful it would make all
the students feel. The KNIGHT FORCE group met during advisory to sort
through children’s books and practice reading to one another. The time
came for the group to read to Mossman Elementary pre-K class, which is
also located in Education Village. CIS students were paired up with one
pre-K student for story time. There was no hesitation from the KNIGHT
FORCE students; they jumped right in and made friends with the younger
students. As simple as it might have seemed the activity had a tremendous
effect on the CIS students. “That was so much fun… I made a new friend and
I can’t wait to do it again”, said one CIS student. It was clear to see
how much the KNIGHT FORCE group benefited from the activity. Reading to
Mossman is now a bi-weekly activity that will eventually make its way to
every grade level at Mossman. The activity aids CIS students to feel
confident, as well as helping them feel needed.
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Month: February 2010
School: McWhirter Elementary We Need A Kidney!
According to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases website, More than
30 people in every 100,000 develop kidney failure each year. In the
pediatric population—age 19 and under—the annual rate is only 1 or 2 new
cases in every 100,000 children. For many US Citizens with health
insurance, medical assistance can be provided and if needed, those in need
will be put on a waiting list for kidney donation.
One CIS student is not as fortunate. A seven-year-old student from El
Salvador is in need of a kidney due to Renal Failure. Though the family
has been able to receive emergency Medicaid, she is unable to be put on a
list for a kidney transplant. Her only options are if one of her immediate
family members matches as a donor.
If not, then the future holds the unknown. She will be put on a kidney
machine for the rest of her life and be extremely limited in activity. The
family works very hard at making sure the student has the proper medicines
and care for her well-being. They each work and have 2 other children.
CIS has been researching ways to assist such as reaching out to the El
Salvadorian Consulate in Washington DC and Houston (making phone calls,
sending letters), providing nutritious food, and assisting with referrals.
We are working very diligently until we know for certain that she has a
match.
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School: Dickinson High School “The Go Center”
During the first month of the Spring Semester, a lot of students start to
turn their thoughts to what college they may like to attend. This year,
Communities In Schools – Bay Area has partnered with our campus’ Go Center
to help students get the necessary information about college.
The Go Center is located next to our counselors’ offices and is a place
where students can go to gather information about colleges, career
choices, majors, and anything to do with the college experience.
Our students who attend Lunch Groups expressed interest in the process of
selecting and applying for college. We took this a step further by
creating a “College Wall” to help visually explain the processes involved.
On our college wall, students can find timelines, internet resources,
expected earning potentials based off of which degree earned, important
testing dates and deadlines, as well as scholarship opportunities. We also
are able to refer students to our Go Center for more information.
Planning for college is a time consuming and can be difficult at times.
Hopefully, these students who make it a priority now and use these
resources will find it to be much easier, enjoyable and exciting than
going it alone!
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School: McAdams Jr. High “Gator Girls”
CIS has been helping organize the new Gator Girls Club, whose mission is
to create positive identities for young girls by providing a positive
outlook through open discussion, mentoring, and positive affirmations of
self-worth. Members will meet every Friday after school for 30 minutes to
an hour, as well as meet with a faculty mentor weekly. In addition to the
meetings, the girls will participate in two fundraising and community
service projects. Proposed service projects include collecting donations
for Haiti recovery efforts, creating care packages for soldiers and/or
military mothers, and donating canned food to a local food bank.
Participating staff and students are very excited to get started. The
Gator Girls will continue to meet through the remainder of the school
year.
“TAKS Pep Rally”
This year, McWhirter held its first TAKS Pep Rally. The purpose behind the
Pep Rally was to excite and motivate students to work hard on their
upcoming exams. Because of greatly improved TAKS scores, McWhirter became
a Recognized Texas School in 2008. This year, we hope to achieve Exemplary
status. CIS participated on the committee to create the TAKS Pep Rally.
Various staff came together to coordinate a group of speakers, athletes,
dancers and activities for the hour long event. CIS was in charge of
transportation for the UH Football players who came to speak. They were
two seniors who had been playing all four years. Neither of them had ever
spoken to a group of elementary students, but had a fun time doing so. The
children really enjoyed the “local celebrities.”
The CIS program at McWhirter worked with the CIS program coordinator at
Clear View to form a group of dance performers. These students did really
well with pumping up the audience. It was good planning to have the Pep
Rally at the end of the day because the kids were very hyped up
afterwards!
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Month: January 2009
School: McWhirter Elementary
Saving the World~~ Robotic Lego Competition at University of Houston~~
Ninety-five teams (around 1000 students) had the task of researching
climate change and developing creative ways to address it and build a
Robotic Lego to go on planet-saving missions. And McWhirter was one of the
teams.
CIS, G/T teacher, mentors, and McWhirter parents supported our students
during this competition. The students worked for 12 weeks to design, build
and program robots with specific planet-saving missions. McWhirter came in
9th place. We didn’t win but we had a lot of fun and are eager for next
year. Their project, which demonstrated the students’ problem solving
skills, creative thinking skills, and team work, is reflective of the
hurdles scientists and other professionals are tackling today. So, in my
opinion, they were all winners!
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School: Brookside Intermediate
New Year, New Semester
At the close of the fall semester and the beginning of another, the
students were anxious about seeing their peers, teachers, administrators
and CIS. They could hardly wait to see everyone to visit and talk about
the holidays. Many students were bored, some liked sleeping later and
others wanted to return to school.
The new year kick-off was with an assembly presenting Judge Jo Ann Delgado
speaking to all the student grade levels about attendance, behavior,
respect, responsibility, and the consequences of appearing before her in
court. The students had the opportunity to ask questions and receive clear
and concise answers.
The counselors made changes to student schedules especially those that
were in need of TAKS accommodations and those others that had elective
preferences. CIS staff had many requests for assistance in the selection
process of courses.
Also, CIS met with new semester and prior semester students in a group
setting in which everyone was introduced. An ice-breaker game was played
and much to their amazement, the students really enjoyed it and learned
from one another. Their reaction triggered their interest for the next
group meeting!
In addition, CIS staff recognized all the students that achieved A’s and
B’s the 2nd 9 weeks with gift cards to WalMart or Target. Special
recognition was also given to students that made the effort to improve.
The Bulldog Bulletin, the school newsletter, included some CIS information
for volunteers, mentors, and tutors that are interested in helping
students achieve their goals to pass classes and/or the TAKS exam.
Moreover, Communities In Schools staff is promoting a positive attitude, a
“Yes, I Can”, outlook to encourage students to complete their homework,
turn it in, get assistance when needed, and be respectful of everyone.
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School: Clear Springs High School
School Community Reaches Out to Assist Students
Due to the natural disaster of Hurricane Ike, many social service agencies
are stretched thin or are not able to offer what they normally would any
other time. Communities In Schools – Bay Area staff member received
assistance from her co-workers for some of their students in need of
clothes. Two female students needed clothes. School clothes and hygiene
products were provided for both students. It was mentioned to a teacher
that CIS was trying to figure out how to get clothes for a student. The
teacher stepped up and asked CIS if she could help. You bet! The teacher
is enjoying the smile on her students’ face. The other donor was an
Administrator whose wife is the same size as a student. He was able to
donate some of his wife’s maternity clothes to assist the student who is
pregnant.
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School: Clear Brook High School
Watching the Weather
Permission slips were tallied and there were twenty at risk boys ready to
board the bus to the National Weather Service office in League City. Ms.
Finley, the SLC Coordinator, Dr. King, the Possibilities Program
facilitator and Ms. Shafer, the CIS Truancy Program Coordinator, boarded
the bus to accompany the boys. The boys were extremely excited since most
of them rarely attend a field trip off campus. This group of boys come
from socially or economically challenged families and many reside in a
single-parent household. These boys are also some of the students most
likely to drop out of high school.
The ride to the weather service center was a lot of fun with one of the
students singing a little hip-hop music for us and the rest of the boys
asking questions, listening to their I-pods or just hanging. Upon arriving
at the facility, we split the group up into groups of 10. The CIS
Coordinator and Dr. King took one group and Ms. Finley took the other
group. The National Weather Service is housed in League City in the same
building with the Galveston County Disaster Relief Center. The students
were able to tour the Galveston County Disaster command center that was
recently in full operation during hurricane Ike. The boys had lots of
questions for our tour guide, Chris McKinney, employed by the National
Weather Service.
We also toured different offices that were responsible for watching the
winds, rain and fronts that travel across the United States. In another
room, we were able to observe the radar that is sent from a weather
satellite orbiting the earth and we were told some stories about Ike when
it was approaching the Texas coast and some of the things that were
reported during the storm. The boys had lots of questions during this
display and lecture and really showed a keen interest in what was being
explained.
After the tour, we met outside and took some pictures before boarding the
bus. We are planning another fieldtrip this year and I suggested that next
time we arrange to take the boys to lunch after the field trip. The boys’
behavior during this outing was very impressive; they were cordial,
respectful and listened throughout the tour. The group was praised in the
bus for their excellent behavior and Ms. Shafer handed out handfuls of
candy to the boys upon their return to school as a reward for their great
behavior.
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School: Clear Lake Ninth Grade Center
Party Time!
Good attendance is somewhat hard to come by, especially so close to the
holidays. Students are tired and ready for a break, and their attendance
often reflects that. So, what better way to encourage the kids to go to
class, than enticing them with a party?
Associate Principal Dr. Bass came up with the idea of hosting a ninth
grade attendance competition where the three classes with best attendance
will win a pizza party. Communities In Schools was in charge of getting it
off the ground and stirring up the excitement. This was a month long
competition where announcements were made daily and where teachers wanted
to win as badly as the students. The students were not the only ones with
an incentive; the winning teachers would be allowed to wear jeans for a
week!
Before the break, the winning classes were chosen and both students and
teachers happily awaited their prize. A big thank you to Assistant League
of the Bay Area who supplied one of the classes with muffins and juice
since it was a morning class, and donuts were provided by Communities In
Schools.
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School: Dickinson High School
Parents as Partners
January has been a transitional time for all students here at Dickinson
High School. All the Assistant Principals and teachers wanted this
semester to be a time to assistant students in controlling their absentees
and tardiness. CIS Truancy Department staff decided to build partnerships
with parents and encourage them to visit on site. Together the parent and
CIS staff would come up with a solution that would improve the number of
absences and tardies his/her child had previously to a minimal.
CIS would contact all assistant principals and teachers of the outcome
from the parent visit to update them on any other issues that may be
contributing to the student absences. Students and Parents have found this
service to be potentially helpful for them due to the fact they now have
another person or persons they can turn to for any concerns they may have
whether its truancy or personal issues. The number of absences has gone
down but, we still have a lot of work to do.
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Month: December 2008
School: Barber Middle School
“Tis the Season”
Although a man in a red suit only lives in the imaginations of small
children, the spirit of “Old St. Nick” is alive in the actions of others.
Still recovering from the aftermath of “Hurricane Ike”, Barber Middle
School pulled together to ensure a pleasurable holiday season for our
students. We reached into our own pockets in spite of economic hardships
for all of us, and we relied on the help of others.
Each staff member adopted one or more students for Christmas. The presents
bought were given to parents of the students to be put under the Christmas
tree. Regardless of if the student was displaced from their home, we
wanted to make sure the Christmas spirit followed them to their new or
temporary home. Along with presents, we also collected food and clothes to
give to the families.
Thanks to Payless Shoes, many of the CIS students got the opportunity to
get a new pair of shoes. Because of hard times, several students had
rested with the idea of not celebrating Christmas this year. So the new
shoes brought forth excitement and kick started their holiday season.
To add to the holiday cheer, CIS hosted a Christmas party filled with
cookies, presents, games, and fun. A school wide “Survivor Party” followed
proving that things are not back to normal but we did survive. It proved
that we are still working hard to bring stability back into the lives of
our students. It was a perfect example of the Christmas spirit.
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School: Clear Creek Ninth Grade Center
Creek Generosity
In December, the Creek family once again proved how generous they can be
and how much they care for their community. Several clubs, sponsored by
the different SLC’s (Small Learning Communities), around the campus held
fundraisers for different charities. The School of Design and Technology
held a canned food drive with the proceeds going to local food pantries.
In order to show how many cans had been donated, the students built a
space shuttle out of the collected goods.
The PTSA (parent/teacher/student association) set up in both campus
libraries with Christmas cards for students to sign. The signed cards were
then given to a local military recruiting office who forwarded them to
military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Students in the
School of Communication, Law, and Social Services held a blanket drive.
The many new and gently used blankets were donated to several homeless
shelters.
Students enrolled in Communities In Schools participated in a toy drive
benefiting the annual Marine Corps “Toys for Tots” toy drive. Students
brought new, unwrapped toys to school and dropped them off at the CIS
office. The toys were then boxed and delivered to a local Marine Corps
recruiting office to be distributed to children who would otherwise not
have any toys for Christmas. The toy drive was a success as 125 toys were
collected and delivered.
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School: League City Intermediate
It is beginning to look like Christmas!
The halls are being decked, the bells are being hung, and everyone seems
to have a little peep in their step. It looks as though there may be a
great holiday approaching. CIS students are working extra hard to bring up
their grades and willing to help around the house. Some CIS students
pretended to be too grown up to admit that they still believed in Santa
but they heard about a nice guy in a red suite with a list of good little
boys and girls; they were making sure they are going to be on that list.
Students collected and donated canned goods through out the month of
December. The LCIS food drive was very successful. The children in this
school gave with their whole heart. LCIS collected over 30,000 pounds of
food for Interfaith Caring Ministries. The LCIS orchestra donated many
gift cards to CIS to select special families within the school. This
generous act certainly helped many families, with Honey Baked Hams,
American express, Target and Wal-mart gift cards. CIS gracefully accepted
the role of Santa and delivered food and gift cards to special families
selected. All the families expressed how grateful they were for the help
during this holiday season.
Making Christmas cards for soldiers in Iraq was an interesting activity.
The CIS lunch buddies were creative and enthusiastic about their cards.
There were several students that understood first hand how important this
activity was for our soldiers. The CIS lunch buddies talked about their
fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters that had been away
from them during the holiday season and how hard it was, so, they wrote
with great meaning and lots of feelings.
Before the two week Christmas break the school exploded with parties. A
school wide party filled the commons. Loud music, fun games and dancing
students young and old made for great memories. CIS participated by
helping chaperon the students but seemed to get caught up in bust’in a
move with the students. Great laughs, great fun was had by all.
The Assistance League comes through again for the LCIS CIS students
donating twelve dozen cookies. Cookies were earned by students for perfect
attendance. Way to go CIS students, almost all the cookies were given out.
The left over cookies were given to our teachers, who go above and beyond
their duties. The extra ordinary teachers who were selected for the cookie
grams were chosen by the students.
New shoes at this time of year can be a big need for many of the LCIS
students and no one likes homework. So, it was a great surprise when
thirteen lucky recipients were awarded a $15.00 PayLess gift card just for
having their homework checked. It is so much fun to make their day!
The month of December was short but very sweet. CIS took great pleasure
giving out gift cards, coats, and cookies; we had many fun activities and
good times. CIS had ten new students enroll and have several pending.
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School: McWhirter Elementary
“Wish Lists”
It is amazing to think that December and the holidays have come and gone
at such a rapid speed.
I was busy working with six different organizations organizing Christmas
“Wish Lists” for 300 children. Starting in November, I passed out Wish
Lists to families affected by Ike and CIS case managed students (and their
siblings). Then, I asked for input from administration and teachers. With
CIS volunteers, we got all the toys delivered before Christmas!
Two hours before I was scheduled to leave for Christmas break (and I had a
flight to South Carolina the next day) a parent came to my office to pick
up toys for her two girls. She told me that she did not have any money and
that she was waiting for their new home to be inspected before moving and
that it would not be done until after the holidays. She said they would be
opening presents in their car. I told her that I needed to make a few
phone calls and I would get back to her.
I called a friend and she called her husband and he agreed to pay for a
hotel for two nights in Kemah. When my friend went to the hotel and told
the story, the hotel said they wanted to take care of this family. The
hotel gave them three nights, put a Christmas tree in their condo and
stocked their kitchen with food! (This family has been living in many
different places since the hurricane so each family member having their
own bedroom and a stocked kitchen was a gift by itself. I was still on the
phone while packing for my trip and contacted the family and got
permission to give their name and phone number.
When I got back from Christmas break I received a “thank you” card from
the family:
“Dear Mrs. Rice,
Thank you so much for helping us make our Christmas wonderful. The
Anderson’s went above and beyond to make sure the girls and I had
everything we needed. They not only put us up in a condo for days, but
presents, passes to Kemah boardwalk and Christmas dinner. We could not ask
for anything more! It was truly a Blessed Christmas. I hope you had a
great holiday and God blessed you also! Thanks again for everything, you
are greatly appreciated!!!
Love,
XXXXX”
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Month: October 2008
School: Clear Lake
Ninth Grade Center
Hurricane Ike Relief Drive
The month of October kicked off with the Hurricane Ike Relief Drive
hosted by Communities In Schools – Bay Area. This was to benefit the
many families and students affected by Ike and its aftermath. Needed
donations included clothes, non-perishable goods and toiletries.
Donation boxes were dispersed across the school and within classes. Many
students donated items knowing they were going directly to classmates
and friends; everyone seemed to know someone who had been touched by the
storm. Some teachers even challenged their students to match the number
of items they brought themselves. Many items were donated, and all were
appreciated. For several weeks, food and clothing were given away almost
on a daily basis, making it a little easier for people while they tried
to rebuild their lives. Had it not been for the outpouring of support
from students and faculty, none of this would have been possible.
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School: Clear Creek Ninth Grade Center
Creek Happenings
October has been a busy month for the Clear Creek family. Upon return from
Hurricane Ike, administrators, teachers, and staff were busy helping
students cope with the trauma associated with such a natural disaster.
Many of the students and their families, as well as some of the employees
at Clear Creek High School had been directly impacted by the hurricane.
But with the efforts of all the Creek family, those effected had been
assisted, either through donations, referrals to outside agencies, or just
a hug and a kind word. Slowly but surely, things were getting back to
normal as the Wildcats helped each other.
October 13 – 17
was everyone’s favorite week as the school got ready for Homecoming
festivities. Students showed their school spirit every day by wearing
different “costumes” to commemorate the days leading up to the football
game (favorite day was “hippie day”) . Students also decorated the doors
to their advisory classes in a team spirit contest. The week ended with
a carnival enjoyed by all. The carnival show-cased many different booths
run by the various clubs at school. They included fun activities such as
face-painting, ring-toss and more and also included several different
food booths. The busiest booth was by far the one selling the ever
favorite sausage-on-stick. Students were allowed to attend the carnival
during their lunch periods and fun was had by all.
Parent Open House had originally been scheduled for the beginning of
October but had to be postponed because of the hurricane and its
aftermath. It was rescheduled for October 27th. Parents were invited to
come by the school to meet their students’ teachers and administrators.
Open House was well attended as parents made their way across the campus
and met with principals, teachers and counselors. Many also observed the
damage that had been done to the campus by the hurricane and how the
district has made every effort to make the school a safe environment for
everyone.
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School: McWhirter Elementary
Houston, Houston, do we have a problem?
Last year I took sixteen fifth grade girls to Rice University to the
Sally Ride Science Festival and this year I brought twenty-five on full
scholarships! One of the workshops the girls attended was “Robotics in
Education and Competition Robotics.” The girls got to build a robot and
keep one to take home. The festival brought to life the idea that girls
could go to college and become a scientist, an astronaut, or an
engineer.
The festival featured: An inspiring talk by astronaut
Peggy Whitson, a biochemistry researcher and astronaut. Currently, Peggy
is NASA’s most experienced astronaut with just over 376 days in space. She
has performed a total of six spacewalks, more than any other female
astronaut. She was the commander and oversaw the first expansion of the
international Space Station’s living and working space.
The girls actually met Peggy and got her autograph! Now
if you ask the girls what they want to do when they grow up, they will
tell you an astronaut!
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