Tradition of Excellence

MISD Campus News

December 3-7, 2018

It’s the most wonderful time of the year at SCE. We began our holiday season with the annual Sweets with Santa. There were many activities for SCE families and friends. Children wrote letters to Santa and made Christmas crafts. Beautiful Christmas music and entertainment was provided by the Treble Maker Choir and a fabulous show of basketball skills by the TOT program.

Stewart Creek Elementary By: Elaine Clevenger

There was an opportunity to have a family picture with Santa and buy a poinsettia to decorate your home for the holiday season. All of this was happening while everyone enjoyed cookies and cocoa. It was a festive and fun night for all. Thank you to all of the volunteers who made this evening a huge success!!

2018-2019 School Year

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Keenan Elementary By: Kim Wunderlich

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Christmas spirit can certainly be found all around Keenan Elementary. Administration and the Keenan PTO are treating the staff each of the 12 days leading up to the holiday with fun indulgences. Reveille, the Keenan Elf made his return and can be found in various places around the campus each day. Mrs. Wunderlich is unwrapping a new gift of kindness each morning on the announcements which have included writing a letter to the principal, and giving the PE teacher a fist bump. The week ended with the Oak Hills band and choir giving an inspiring Christmas concert to the KES 4th and 5th graders.

Keenan Elementary believes in M.A.G.I.C.

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Lincoln Elementary By: Penny Olbrych

The first ever Lincoln E-Track Show Off was held last Friday for students and staff. It was an informal walk through of the Fall groups in first to fifth grade to give students a taste of what was offered. Some first graders made birthday and thank you cards, there was dancing in fifth grade and fourth grade showed off logic skills by learning to play different “Brain Games”. Lincoln Bears can’t wait to show off for friends and family in the Spring!

Math is yummy! Fourth graders learned about perfect squares by making arrays with Cheez Its.

Lincoln Elementary principal, Courtney Dyer, was proud to accept the trophy for the campus with the most points earned overall at the 5th annual Elementary UIL A+ Academics Competition. Mrs. Dyer stated “Congratulations to all of the contestants and coaches. It’s a great day to be a Lincoln bear!”

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This past Friday, we had our first E-Tracks showcase. All grade levels participated, and we had so many amazing enrichment projects. A BIG thank you to our teachers and students for working so hard over the last few weeks. Also, a BIG shout out to Mrs. Andrews, fifth grade teacher, and Mrs. Toms, first grade teacher, for their help in coordinating this fabulous event.

The Oak Hills Music Department Spreads Christmas Cheer

The Oak Hills Lion Band and Choir students traveled to Keenan and Lone Star Elementary schools to spread the holiday spirit through their music. The Lion Honor Band, under the direction of Mr. Boozer, performed several songs like 'Jingle Bells' and 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' that had the young students clapping and singing merrily along. They also performed more sophisticated songs like 'Silver Bells', 'The Nutcracker' and 'The Polar Express' which highlighted their musical talents. The 4th and 5th grade students also enjoyed learning the names of the various instruments that comprise a band and the unique sounds each instrument makes. There were lots of oohs and ahhs and even a few giggles when the tuba played its deep tune! The Lion band sparked the interest of many younger students who will one day be members of our band.

Oak Hills Jr High By: Shannon Sedoff

Montgomery Elementary By: Kelly Lowe

Following the beautiful band concert, our Choir students, under the direction of Ms. Wagner, put on a spectacular show! They sang a variety of holiday favorites that included several solo opportunities as well as ensemble performances. Phoebe Dossey sang a sweet and moving rendition of 'Mary Did You Know' while playing her ukulele. Makyna Trero brought the popular song 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' to life with her rousing rendition. The Men's Choir ended the show singing and dancing to 'Ruby Baby', an audience favorite! Ms. Wagner and her students took their show on the road over the weekend to Memorial City Mall in Houston and delighted holiday shoppers.

The 12 days of Christmas cheer is being sprinkled all over our fabulous teachers at MES. Santa and the elves have been busy making sure the teacher and staff feel appreciated and honored for what they do each day. One day last

week, the elves delivered “room service” treats to all the staff with festive music and a smile. We love our teachers at MES, and Santa and the elves love them too!

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Montgomery Junior High By: Tracey Hooton

The twelve days of Christmas has kicked off at the Ranch and it's already been a festive holiday season with elf dress up days, teachers making gingerbread houses for display, Blue Santa, pizza food trucks, and so many ugly Christmas sweaters we can't count.

Not to mention, our sneaky holiday Elf has made an appearance and has been up to some interesting things at night.

Madeley Ranch Elementary By: Renee Sorrell

Saturday, December 8th was a chilly winter day but everyone was relieved the rain cleared up

for the Annual Montgomery Christmas parade. The holiday spirit was festive and

jolly as Montgomery Junior High was proud to represent the Bears! Our band

marched and decked the streets of downtown while our Jr. Belles and cheerleaders bundled up on their

decorated floats. Bree Anderson said it was “FREEZING but it was so fun

throwing candy to the crowd!”

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Do you hear what I hear?

In a year of firsts, Lake Creek High School hosted its first Holiday Concert in school history for the community on the evening of December 10th, which included the bands of Lake Creek and of Oak Hills Junior High. The bands are under the direction of Mr. Matthew Martinez and Mr. Matthew Boozer. LCHS Principal Phil Eaton tweeted “[They] did a great job leading our phenomenal band tonight in our Performing Arts Center!”. The evening concluded in the foyer with a treat of Christmas cookies, cupcakes, and other seasonal treats.

The Lake Creek Performing Arts is inviting everyone to come to their “Christmas Spectacular” on December 13th at 7 PM. Tickets for adults are $10 and students get in for $5. This program will include performances by the Band, Choir, Dance and Theatre.

Lone Star Elementary By: Elisa Krug

Lake Creek High School By: Len Schendel

Making a Reading List and Checking It Twice

Lone Star fiftth graders are practicing their persuasive essay skills by working to persuade others to read a book that they would highly recommend. Groups of students began their assignment by reading the same book and developing a plan for how they might persuade someone else to read it also. Presentations included video commercials with narration, showcase boards, special lighting and persuasive language, of course. They hooked their audience with lingering curiosity by giving just a few facts about the problem in the story but not the solution. Students enjoyed describing the setting and introducing the main characters. Listeners who found themselves on the edge of their seat knew to put that book on their winter reading list!

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Montgomery High School By: Dayna Lawson

In preparation for future careers in the military, police force, investigators, judges, and the FBI, students take Forensic Science classes taught by Dr. Barbara Ward where they learn how to analyze evidence. “If there’s sand on the scene, you can see footprints and fingerprints,” one student said. “Sand soaks up blood, so you can get DNA from it.” One way to analyze a crime scene is by analyzing the sand and soil to see if a body was transferred to the scene or if the victim was murdered somewhere else. “I am looking to see what’s inside the sand and to see if it is old or new,” another student said. “Old sand is smaller. If there was a dead body and the sand was new, it was probably planted there.” Furthermore, looking at the soil or sand can tell where the original crime scene could have taken place. “This can help if someone has dirt under their finger nails,” Samantha Feild said. “This activity helps us look at different ways to categorize it and where it can be found.” In order to make sure her students are successful, Dr. Ward gets the assistance of her colleagues. “They are trying to identify the source of the sand,” Dr. Ward said. “I’ve had faculty bring me sand from all around the world and them seeing the different sands helps them understand the source.” Additionally, some students were practicing dusting for fingerprints while others were practicing fingerprinting suspects. “When you are rolling fingerprints, you get to see full fingerprint with all the details,” Audrey Slayton said. Other ways that students learn to analyze evidence is through fibers and footprints. The Forensic Science class helps students learn through various hands-on activities. “It gives me more in the field experience,” Rylan Dozier said. “You get to do a lot of experiments and it feels real.”

Photos by Kylee Jinks and Samantha Nordstrom

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Traveling Mural by Jessica Samuel

Keenan students have helped create a mural that will be shared with nine other schools all over North America. Students listened to the books Maybe Something Beautiful and Keith Haring The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing to get inspiration for adding to the mural. Once the mural was complete it was cut into 10, 1-foot pieces to be mailed out. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our other pieces from the participating schools in our group, so that we can piece our traveling mural together.

From the Library….

Hour of Code by Shelley Smith

The MJH library celebrated the Hour of Code all week, Dec. 3-7. Code.org provides hour-long tutorials that teach students how to write computer code. MJH joined millions of students all over the world in being introduced to the basics of coding while playing such games as Minecraft, The Grinch, Flappy Birds, and the new Dance Party. Student Jada Sykes said, “I like learning to code because I can do creative things, like the dance moves that I was able to make my characters perform in Dance Party.”