YOUR SCHOOLS

May 2014

P O R T N E C H E S – G R O V E S I S D

The Science Games Our panel of tributes

from the 8 districts, science classes, was selected based on activities they did in the weeks leading up to the games. Each homeroom had participated in a variety of stations and activities preparing them for the Science STAAR test. After a grueling session of question and answer, each tribute was allowed to pick a volunteer from their class to help them with bonus questions.

Our victors, Thomas Ryan and Tanner Sims, of the 2014 Science Games.

Lisa LeTulle and Ashley Lofton , 5th grade science teachers, creators of the Science Games.

Our STAAR Game celebrities, Amy “Effie” Gil and Meredith “Caesar” Brawner.

Nurse Staci Guarnere takes great care of all of us at PNE. She was honored with a luncheon and cards on Nurse’s Day.

Port Neches Elementary Happenings

.

.

Rock Solid Character Students celebrated their “Rock Solid Character Education” with a Rock Wall Climb. They learned to get a “grip on good character.” Wow! Look at them except the challenge for the climb.

Garth House Winners Congratulations to Mrs. Walters' and Mr. Champagne's classes. For the last 12 years, Port Neches Elementary has raised more money per student than any other school in our area for the Garth House. The top fund-raising classes in each grade had lunch with Jack and Taffee, the Garth House dogs. An added reward for the school will be an amazing performance by Acrodunk on May 28.

4th and 5th grade PE classes enjoyed flying kites. Many students had never flown a kite before. They had a great time.

n

Perfect Attendance Pizza Party Winners Congratulations to Mrs. Walter’s and Mrs. Richard’s classes for perfect attendance for the 6 weeks.

Science Club Science Fair

Mrs. LeTulle, Science Club sponsor, held the first PNE Science Club on May 2nd. Students not only shared their presentations but also explained the scientific processes with the judges. All participants had excellent presentations. 1st place went to Addison Steltz and Paxton Shultz. Blake Makelki won 2nd and Tanner Sims received 3rd place. Congratulations to all who participated. The future scientists and their parents celebrated with a reception in their honor.

“Walk the Dog, Roger” Mrs.Smith and the fourth grade entertained the community with the musical, “Walk the Dog, Roger!” Their performance showcased our talented 4th graders.

4th Grade End-of-Year Field Trip

Fourth graders enjoyed riding bumper cars, playing putt putt golf, jumping, and many other fun activities. They were complimented on their excellent behavior.

Groves Elementary Happenings

Treble Tribe & Rockin’ Recorders Enjoy Concerts

On Monday, February 3rd, Groves Elementary Treble Tribe and Rockin’ Recorders groups traveled to the Nederland Performing Arts Center to hear Home Free. Home Free performed some of their songs and taught the students to make instrument sounds with their mouths. Students especially liked the fact that Nederland’s own Tim Foust was in the group and demonstrated his amazing talent. The students were star struck to see the a capella vocal group and were amazed at their talent. Thank you to Mrs. Julie Tentrup from Groves Middle School for spearheading the effort to bring Home Free to Nederland to perform and educate our students and to Home Free for a wonderful experience. On Tuesday, February 4th, Groves Elementary Treble Tribe. Rockin’ Recorders, and Mrs. Howard’s 4th grade class attended the Symphony of Southeast Texas Youth Education Concert. The theme for the concert was Myths, Journeys, and Heroic Traditions. Students heard a variety of orchestral music and were introduced to the instruments of the orchestra. Some of the favorite pieces that were played were “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” by John Williams, “Harry’s Wondrous World” also by John Williams, and “Entry of the Gladiators” by Julius Fucik. The students especially liked the fact that Maestro Tipton came out and conducted the orchestra dressed as a gladiator. Thank you to the Symphony of Southeast Texas for provided a wonderful experience for our students.

Congratulations to 5th grade student, Julia Barrett, for reading all 20 Texas Bluebonnet nominated books. She was the only student who accomplished this task. Her reading teacher, Mrs. Burnett, and Librarian, Mrs. Suiter, are very proud of her. Way to go Julia!!!

Groves Elementary honored, Mrs. Jo Ann Dockens, for Secretary’s Day on April 16th with a luncheon. She is the newest member of the GE family and is doing a splendid job. Thank you for all you do, Mrs. Dockens!

Groves Elementary Enjoys Jump Rope Day On Friday, February 28th, Coach Sturdivant and Mrs. Gloede hosted a Jump Rope Day. They invited the faculty and staff to join in the fun with their classes while they were in P.E. class. Mrs. Meyer, Mrs. Hebert, Mrs. Desmond, Mrs. Washburn, Mrs. VanHouten, Mrs. Wommack, Ms. Permenter, Ms. Robison, Ms. Broussard, Mrs. Champagne, Mrs. Gloede & Coach Sturdivant joined the fun. We even had a Watch D.O.G., Mr. Robin, jump with the students. GE’s very own principal, Mrs. Hammersmith, also joined the students in jumping rope.

Mrs. Hammersmith challenged all the students at Groves Elementary to have perfect attendance for the month of February. A drawing was held for a 5 pound bar of chocolate. The winner was 5th grader Saide Aguilar.

Congratulations!!!

Port Neches Middle Happenings

Art Winner Robert Clark, a PNMS 8th grader, won Student of the

Week on artSonia.com for his artwork. Congratulations to Robert. Robert received a plaque with his drawing on it and a $50 gift certificate to artSonia. Check out this website!

Patriot’s Pen Jacob Elia, an 8th grader at PNMS, came in 3rd place for this year’s Patriot Pen Essay contest. This year’s theme was “What Patriotism Means to Me.” Congratulations to Jacob!

The 8th grade Lady Warrior Track team dominated all four track meets and set a new school record at District Meet. The girls set a record with 219 total points at District.

The following individuals broke records:

Discus – Kaitlyn Boudreaux – 92’11”

200 Meter Hurdles – Callie Jourdan – 31.38

Triple Jump – Brooke Smith – 31’5”

District Track Winners 2014

Groves Middle Happenings

GMS Says Goodbye Groves Middle School welcomed several teachers this year to the GMS Family. Even though we have gained these new members of our family, we sometimes have to say goodbye to others. We are sending our well-wishes to two of our staff. We will miss these two, but hope they enjoy the time they have earned!

GMS Band The Groves Middle School Symphonic Band won UIL Sweepstakes with Superior Ratings in Concert and Sightreading. Our Concert Band won the Space City Music Showcase Superior Rating and Outstanding in Class. Congratulations to these two bands! Thank you Mr. Trammel and Mrs. Creel for your hard work and dedication with these students.

(Left) Vickie Crochet - 23 years of service (Right) Diana Lege - 31 years of service

GMS Choir Receives Top Honors Drama Students Our Drama students won 1st place at the Educational Drama State Contest (Left Picture). Congratulations Ms. LeBlanc and Drama students! (Right Picture) Special award at EDA State for qualifying with superior in all 8 Drama events throughout the year.

At the UIL Concert and Sightreading Competition, April 9th - 10th, both Treble and Tenor/Bass Choirs received the Sweepstakes Award. These choirs won 1st Division in both Concert and Sightreading competitions. Thank you Mrs. Hollier for your devotion to our choir program.

Van Buren Elementary Happenings

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our Spring LifeShare blood drive very successful! We had 44 Van Buren students who recruited one or more adults to donate a total of 41 units of blood! The top recruiter was Payton Bryan in Mrs. Brent’s class who brought in 3 adults to donate blood. Along with the LifeShare T-shirts that all the participants will get, Payton will also receive 10 ice cream coupons. Madalyn Abshire in Mrs. Jones’ class was the big winner in the Toys R Us $50 gift card drawing! Congratulations Madalyn, Payton and to all of our students who participated in helping to save lives!!

Van Buren’s Fall Blood

Drive

The second grade classes hatched butterflies as part of their animal unit in science. All the second grade students went outside on Monday, April 29th to release the butterflies. The children were very excited when the butterflies flew off to freedom.

PTA had a fundraiser where students sold candy. The top sellers were rewarded “Lunch with the Principal.”

STUDENTS ENJOY LIMO RIDE Students who sold 25 or more items were treated to a limousine ride to Dairy Queen and Tugboat Island.

Rave Reviews on Van Buren’s First Character Night

Best wishes to retirees Mary Simon (left) and Jolene King (right). We will miss you!

Van Buren Elementary students who met their AR goal for the year went to Sports Connection as a reward. TOTAL and Huntsman partially funded this field trip, and we are grateful for their support.

Ridgewood Elementary Happenings

First Grade Rodeo During the First Grade Texas Unit, students participated in several neat Texas activities. They had a Live Stock Show where each child got to bring in their favorite stuffed animal and show it off to the class…then everyone won ribbons! The children made trail mix. They

decorated their “saddle bags”…brown lunch bags…then went to the table to pick and choose what they would like to put in their bags for our “cowboy picnic.” To end the unit, the students decorated stars with tin foil and hung them from the ceiling. They then sat around a make believe campfire, listened to music and made smores. Yee-haw, what a fun learning experience!

Spotlight on Excellence Award The following Ridgewood employees were nominated for the Spotlight on Excellence Award: LaRae Bost, Andrea Bryan, Danna Fournet, Melissa Wright, Traci Cates, Karen Raborn, Linda Stansbury, Phyllis Ellis, Gail Jones, and Dianne Stukey.

First Graders Visit Fire Museum Ridgewood students visited the Fire Museum in Beaumont. There, they learned about the history of fire engines and the fire station in Beaumont, were able to sit in a real fire truck, and practiced fire safety by seeing how fast they could get out of a house when the smoke alarm goes off. They finished off the day by eating pizza and bouncing at the Jump Zone!

1st Grade Martian Day

All for Books Day!

First graders studied phases of the moon and used Oreos to model the different phases, studied planets and the sun, and ended it with an out of the world martian mania day!! They read Aliens Love Underpants, and discussed the story. The kids had a blast!

Shangri-La Visits Ridgewood Third graders at Ridgewood Elementary enjoyed a visit from Maxine the Owl. The students learned many things about owls from the Shangri La Staff Members.

Ridgewood Elementary PTA hosted All for Books Day today in preparation for our upcoming book fair. Students donated to our All for Books fund by paying $1 to wear pajamas and read today. Each grade donated to their grade level and the money will be divided up among the grade level teachers for them to purchase books for their classroom libraries at out book fair.

The 2nd annual Ridgewood track meet was a huge success! Students in second and third grade competed in the mile, 800 meter, 400 meter and 100 meter races and relays. The first graders came to watch and get to see what it will be like for them next year. Thanks Mrs. Stukey for organizing this great event for us!

Ridgewood partnered with HEB in a campaign to “Be Kind to the Earth.” Students had a contest between grade levels to see who could bring the most plastic bags. The students brought in a total of 6,703 plastic bags that will go to HEB to be recycled instead of ending up in the land fill. Kindergarten was the winning grade level with 2,133 bags!

Taft has always been very involved in Relay For Life. Over the last 10 years we have raised over $153,794.94. We have won the trophy for the school that raises the most money many times. We added a Relay Recess day that went along with Coach Gil’s health lessons. Many families are not able to make it out to the stadium for the night of Relay so we decided to invite families to come to school and walk with their students as the culminating activity to Coach’s health lessons. The students were asked to collect money for Relay For Life and were given gift cards for the most money collected in each grade level. The total raised just for that day was $4,700.00. The kids and their families had a wonderful time. Taft has the BEST Families Ever!

First grade has a Science Program called “Scientist” of the Day. Each child gets to teach a science experiment to the class. This program has generated many “Future Scientist”. From Blowing Snake Bubbles to Erupting Volcanoes, these are just some of the lessons taught by the students. The children take home a science bag the night before their lesson is to be taught. The bag is equipped with a binder full of lessons, a lab coat, goggles, and a scientist wig. The children are so excited to be the “Scientist!”

Taft Elementary Happenings

Easter Bonnet Contest

Taft held it’s annual Easter Bonnet Contest. Once again we were amazed at all the creativity.

Cinco de Mayo

Taft celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a Piñata. The children each got a turn at hitting the piñata to try to bust it open.

Kindergarten Stick Horse Parade

The Kindergarten classes had their yearly Stick Horse Parade. They worked very hard on their Texas Unit and celebrated by riding their Stick Horses in a parade around the school.

Woodcrest Elementary Happenings

New School Records Set!

Ready, Set, Run! Woodcrest 1st – 3rd grade students are getting ready to run the mile. Students love trying to beat the school records, as well as their own records from last year. Students ran the mile May 9th at the high school just like a real track meet while parents and teachers cheered them on. This year, we had a record broken in the mile race. A third grader, Ian Eberhardt, broke the record for running a mile in 6 minutes and 44 seconds!

This year Woodcrest competed in a race to be the first school to skype all 50 states. Students and teachers began skype-ing park rangers, a reconstructed pilgrim/Indian village in Jamestown, marine biologist, a Rockette, a ski resort, among many others on October 21. On December 17 Woodcrest skyped the last state to win the contest. The students had a great time learning through skype! The teachers love this new way of enriching learning and are excited to continue to use it. We are so proud of how everyone worked together to reach this goal and win this contest. No contest is complete without a prize though, right? Woodcrest’s reward for being the first campus to complete the skype to 50 states was a visit from NASA! Students were so excited to meet different people who work for NASA. Students were able to go to two presentations given by NASA employees. The first presentation was about the special equipment needed in space. They showed the students the space suit and how each part worked. In the second presentations students learned about the changes that happen to your body in space and the way astronauts have to adapt to eating, working out, and sleeping. Students loved getting to see and try out the way the astronauts live!

Peyton Jones has set a new AR record for points earned during a school year at Woodcrest. This year the third grader has earned 700.6 points. We are all very proud of her!

Woodcrest students collected 44,010 bags for recycling! HEB sponsored this project so that students could really see how much trash we make. Students learned that a lot of our trash comes from plastic and that it remains trash for hundreds of years. Student were able to see just how much plastic trash we add to the problem and the difference we can make by recycling the plastic bags.

Woodcrest Elementary’s 2nd grade classes visited Central Mall on Thursday, April 17th. They performed by singing songs to a crowd of proud parents, grandparents and shoppers. Students also paraded through the mall showing off the Easter hats they each hand- made.

1st grades annual TEXAS DAY! 1st grade spent time in March studying all about Texas. To end this fun, interactive unit students ate beans from a can, roped a cow, and showed off their hand-made “horses” on obstacle course. They were real Texans!

Woodcrest students held a short pep rally for the Indian Soccer boys before their playoff game! The boys stopped by on their way out of town to for a little pumping up! Students performed a cute skit and did a fun little dance for good luck! Woodcrest wanted to remind the boys that they are the reason we are HAPPY to be Indians!

PN-G High School Happenings

UIL Academic Sweepstakes Trophy Recaptured The Port Neches-Groves High School UIL Academic Team recaptured the District 20-4A Sweepstakes trophy after scoring 416 points, beating out second-place Little Cypress-Mauriceville, which scored 357 points at the district meet held April 4-5 at Livingston High School. PN-G has won the UIL academic district championship for 14 of the last 15 years. “Recapturing the sweepstakes trophy was huge for us,” said senior Victoria White, who won gold medals in both Ready Writing and Feature Writing. “It was one of our main goals entering the UIL academic season. We were so happy to get it back.” In all, PN-G will be taking 20 contestants to the Regional Academic Meet to compete in 24 events. That meet will be held at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville on May 2-3.In order to advance to the regional round of competition as a UIL academic competitor, a student must place first, second, or third in his or her contest, or be the member of a first-place team. PN-G’s Journalism, Speech and Literary Criticism teams all placed first at the district meet. The first-place award capped off a season in which the journalism team won first-place team at every meet in which they competed. “My journalism students have seven opportunities to advance to the State Meet,” journalism adviser Janis Ryan said. “I am so proud of their accomplishments, both at the practice meets and at district. I have high hopes that one or more of them will qualify for state.” In addition, PN-G’s One Act Play, “The History of Tom Jones,” was one of two plays from the district that will be advancing to the Area Round of competition. The group is scheduled to perform at Atascocita High School on April 12 at 8:10 p.m., but times may vary due to the nature of the contest schedule. It is suggested that those wishing to attend the event arrive 30 minutes prior to the scheduled show time.

P N G

All Five PN-G Bands Earn Sweepstakes Trophies Five PN-G bands competed at the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest this spring, and all five earned a Sweepstakes, designated by the UIL for being awarded a first division rating in both concert and sight reading contests. Additionally, the high school band had to earn a first division rating in marching contest back in the fall in order to qualify for sweepstakes eligibility. The symphonic (varsity) bands from Groves and Port Neches Middle Schools competed on March 5-6 at Groves Middle School, and the Wind Ensemble (varsity), Symphonic (non-varsity) and Concert (sub non-varsity) bands from PN-G High School competed April 23-24 at Nederland High School. High school band director Alex Wells said he was extremely pleased that this year’s bands accomplished such a rare feat. “We are sure that this hasn’t happened at PN-G in the past 15 or so years, and may have only happened once in the past 25 years,” Wells said. “I could not be any more excited for the PN-G Band Program than I am at the end of this school year.” The PN-G band directors include Wells, Phillip Maldonado, Matt LeBlanc, Martin Trammel, and Rebecca Creel. Also helping with contest preparation were student teachers Clerisa Morris and Sarah Sauceda. Percussion instructor was Crystal Wells. “I believe that we have an excellent team of band directors who are willing to help students,” Wells said. “But, more importantly, we have great student musicians who diligently put in the hard work necessary for success. Our students exhibit high-quality standards both in and out of the band room.” Wells added that the “sweepstakes sweep” is an accomplishment that he would like to see repeated in the near future. “We try to instill in our students that they should do their best every day, and success will follow,” he said. “The block of wood with the shiny face (trophy) isn’t the most important thing – doing your best every day is. I’m so proud of our students’ accomplishments and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the PN-G Band Program.”

Photo caption: Members of the PN-GISD middle and high school bands display the five Sweepstakes trophies that they earned after earning first division ratings in marching, concert and sight reading contests.

Junior Laurel Brittain tied for seventh place in News Writing at the UIL State Academic Meet at the University of Texas in Austin on Tuesday, May 20. Laurel qualified for the state meet after winning the gold medal and the title of regional champion in News Writing at the UIL Regional meet held at Sam Houston State University the first weekend in May. She also placed sixth in Feature Writing at the regional meet.

Senior Victoria White traveled to the state meet after placing fourth in Feature Writing at the Regional meet. Victoria was also placed fifth in Headline Writing at regionals, making her first alternate to State in Feature Writing and second alternate in Headline Writing.

Additionally, the PN-G Journalism team was the overall Regional champion, beating the second-place team from Tomball Memorial by one point. Congratulations to all!

Pictured are: Victoria White (left) and Laurel Brittain (right)

Dear Indians,

Summer is upon us again. We began school in August 2013 with extremely high expectations for our students and of ourselves. It appears that the school year has flown by quickly again. Once again we have seen great success and accomplishment and have continued the honor, pride, and tradition. The combination of hardworking teachers, supportive parents and great students creates a tradition of excellence in the PNG district. We appreciate what our teachers do for our students and it is important for our parents to know their children are safe when they drop them off in the mornings. We began the school year with an intensive training that taught our entire staff how to respond to active shooters and other safety concerns on our campuses. The training was a true “eye opener,” and I’m proud to say that the staff did a tremendous job actively participating in the two-day training. I’m

even prouder that they have continued to revisit the training throughout the year. We will never live in fear in this district and continue to sharpen our skills regarding safety. In addition, the staff began working diligently in August preparing to deliver the best possible instruction to our students. This training begins in August and continues throughout the school year. I’m proud of our staff and students, and I’m also pleased with the efforts our parents make to get students to school ready to learn.

Our students have competed well at the local, district, regional and state level. We continue to find ways for them to compete and win. Their hard work will certainly equip them to excel in any and all endeavors once they graduate and move to the next chapter of their lives. Our students love coming to school and it is clear on Friday nights during football season. Our tradition and spirit is unmatched in the Great State of Texas. I can’t thank our parents and teachers enough for what they do for children, schools and communities. Our communities are strong and growing. There is growth in Port Neches and Groves is preparing to build over 400 homes. This will certainly add to our student population and we have plans in place to address such growth. We made it through a tough and long winter and haven’t seen temperatures like this in a long while. I apologize for us having to have two make-up days, but the Texas Education Agency would not consider our recommendation. We are working on the schedule to prevent this in the future.

Another Legislative Session will begin in January 2015 and it will be one of the most important sessions we’ve ever seen. There will be many topics that can positively or negatively impact public education in Texas. I encourage our parents and staff to stay in tune with the session and pay close attention to bills that can impact our district. A good source is www.texasisd.com as it is updated daily and maintained by people who are play a part in the legislative process. I will be in touch with you prior to the start of the session, but I promise this session will be huge. Last session, the “Mad Mom” groups got a great deal of things accomplished and we are going to utilize them again in January. Stay informed and if you ever have questions regarding legislative issues, call me and I can explain the implications for our district.

Summer is just a few days away and everyone is looking forward to spending time with family and friends and traveling. Always take the time to ensure our children and families are safe when traveling. Many of us will be around the water all summer and it is important to ensure safety procedures are followed. Once again, I end the school year with outstanding memories and look forward to time with my wife, kids and friends. My school year never ends and I am ready to work hard this summer to provide our students and staff with nothing but the best. Our teachers, administrators, parents, board and staff will work diligently to make the 2014-2015 even better. We are all on the same team, and we accomplish greatness when we work together and not against one another. I am thankful to be the Superintendent of the outstanding district and look forward to working with everyone next year.

Again, our enrollment continues to grow, we are financially strong, the tradition remains the strongest in the state and life is good at PNG. We can work together to make it even better. I am thankful to be here and appreciate your support and input. Have a safe and fun summer and have some fun with family and friends.

God Bless You All, Rodney D. Cavness, Ed.D.

This newsletter is published by the Port Neches-Groves ISD.

PNGISD Board of Trustees Rusty Brittain, President

Rodney Balsamo, Vice President Eric Sullivan, Secretary

Darren McCutcheon, Member Melanie Miller, Member

Lana Parker, Member Jim Walters, Member

Administration Building 620 Avenue C Port Neches, TX 77651 409.722.4244 409.724.7864 (fax)

P o r t N e c h e s – G r o v e s I S D

PNGISD

A MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT