Happy New Year to everyone!
We want to thank the Eagle football team for a great run in the playoffs. You did an outstanding job this year overcoming obstacles. My hope for you is that you not only had a great time this year and made an incredible run but you learned life lessons along the way. You understand what it means to overcome adversity and persevere when things don't go your way.
Our annual Mills County Stock show will be next week, January 13th-15th. We have a lot of talented students in Mills County schools. I really enjoying watching all the talent these young people exhibit at this stock show. This is a great showing of students in grades 3-12!
This is the beginning of the end of a high school career for our Senior class of 2010. If you see any of the seniors encourage them to finish their high school career strong because it will only springboard them to their next chapter in life. My hope for them is that they have made some great memories but it is not the best highlight of their life.
It has been a very hectic few weeks at Goldthwaite High! If you have a student at GHS you do not have to be told by me that the school year is flying by!
I wanted to tell you that I am very proud of our students and faculty at GISD. Last week we observed Red Ribbon week. This is a week of drug prevention awareness. Our students and staff pulled together and participated in one of the most awesome displays of unity I have been involved in. Our whole school participated in a "Walk a mile to be drug free" parade. Our Golden Eagle Band played while we walked to the track and then around the track for a mile. Each class was asked to line up in the middle of the field and we spelled out GOLDTHWAITE with 581 students and over 90 staff members. If you did not see the picture on the front of the Goldthwaite Eagle you need to get one!
Also this past week our district learned of a young man in a neighboring district that is fighting a battle. Our district decided to pull together and host a "Hats off to Jake" day at each of our three campuses. I am please to tell you our students (your children) raised $1000 to benefit Jacob Bibb, a high school student from Mason who is fighting Leukemia. Before the football game on friday night, Tracy Randolph (a student teacher at GES) and students from each campus presented the check to the Bibb family. This was a very emotional and heart warming event. Be very proud you are from Goldthwaite and have raised children to have courage and character to step up and help people in need. This exemplifies what it means to be a GOLDTHWAITE EAGLE! Below is a link to find out more information and how you can help Jake .
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jacobbibb
This week will be a very fast paced week. We will be having a fundraiser to raise money for a young man from Mason who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. We will have a donation jar in the Principal's office at every campus from Monday, October 18th-Wednesday, October 27th. On Friday, October 22nd we will allow any student to wear a cap or a hat for a $1 donation. "Hats off to Jake" At our district football game between our Eagles and the Mason Cowpunchers on Friday, October 29th we will have a few elementary, middle school, and high school students present the money to the family at the game.
This week we will be having our pep rally at 12:30 p.m. We will release school at 1:00 p.m. to give everyone a chance to travel to Big Lake to the football game between our Goldthwaite Eagles the Reagan County Owls. We anticipate a good game for the Eagles as they begin district play. If you don't know the way to Big Lake you can access a google map on the District homepage.
I hope everyone is able to access their students information via parent portal. If you did not receive your child's parent portal ID or are having trouble accessing your child's information you may call me at school at 325-648-3081 or on my cell phone at 325-451-0577. It is a great tool to keep up with our child's grades, attendance, and assignments they have turned in. You can even set it to give you alerts when you child is absent, tardy, or makes below a certain grade.
This week I would like to highlight Clark Campbell's teacher website. He teaches Agriculture classes at GHS. He has links to the Goldthwaite FFA page that has scholarship and Mills County Stock Show information as well as information about major stock shows. He has a wide variety of pictures ranging from FFA State Convention to Tractor Restoration. Keep up the good work Mr. Campbell!
This is the 6th week of school and everyone knows that means this is the final week of this grading period. Report Cards will go out on Wednesday, October 6, 2010. We will hand out report cards to all students in their 2nd period class. If you do not receive a report card please call the high school office.
We will have our pep rally this week at 3:00 pm and release school at 3:30 pm. Go Eagles beat Marion!
Parent Portal letters were sent out last week with instructions and your child's portal ID. This is a great way to keep directly involved in your child's education. You will be able to see up to date grades, attendance, and assignments for your child. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me.
The teacher's webpage I would like to highlight this week is Ronda Melton. Mrs. Melton teaches English I & III as well as Honors in both those areas. She is our Head sponsor for the Senior Class of 2010. Please take her Web poll underneath her calendar!
We are beginning the 5th week of the 1st 6 weeks. We appreciate all the parents helping their children be the as successful as they can. Please do not hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns. You can check out GHS on Facebook. Click on the link on the High School page to follow some of the most amazing kids!
I have been highlighting a teacher that has done a GREAT job at the beginning of the year with their school webpage. Throughout the year all teachers will be using this as a way to communicate expectations, assignments, and to promote the great things our students are doing in the classroom. This week I would like to highlight Mrs. Gist's webpage. She teaches Art at the High School and Middle School, so she has the responsibility of updating two sites as well as the Art site on the extracurricular page. Visit her site and see the wonderful world of GISD Art!
click to enlarge
We hope everyone had a tremendous Labor Day holiday on Monday. This week has been a very fast week with only going to school for 4 days. On Friday we will have our pep rally at 2:00 p.m. and school will release at 2:30 p.m. to allow everyone to travel to Alvarado for our Non-district football game with Callisburg. We will be the visiting team for this game.
You can go to the following link and get a map and directions to the stadium at Alvarado. See you there. Go Eagles!
We will be sending out 3 week progress reports on Wednesday, September 15th. All parents of students that have a grade of 74 or below in any class will receive a detailed progress report of their child's assignments and grades for each assignment during this 3 week period.
For those parents that are anxiously awaiting Parent portal, please be patient we are working the kinks out of the system. We appreciate your patience and we assure you that before we release this awesome tool, we want to be ensure each parent have a good experience. As soon as it is up and running parents will be receiving a letter with their student's Parent portal ID and they will be able to login via our school website to access grades and attendance of your children in the district.
This week has been a good week. Tomorrow we will be having our first Eagle Assembly of the year. We have an Eagle assembly every two weeks on fridays. During Eagle assembly we will discuss the GREAT things that occurred the past two weeks. We will highlight the positives and emphasize the things that we need to work on. We will also highlight the upcoming events. But the best thing we do is reward students who have NO absences, NO tardies, and NO discipline referrals for the past two weeks. Each student will receive a piece of paper with their name on it. They will get the chance to throw the paper into a trash can in the middle of the gym floor. If they make it in the can they will receive an Eagle t-shirt. Of all the one that win a t-shirt, one name will be drawn to win a crisp fifty dollar bill. Good luck to all students that get to throw this week.
We have had a very good start to the week. Enrollment is up. We now have 181 students enrolled at GHS! It is great to have new families (and old ones returning) move to our community!
Last week I started highlighting a teacher website and I would like to continue that this week. If you have time please look at Mrs. Duus' website. She teaches Chemistry, Chemistry Honors, and Science TAKS. Her students and parents have the capability to access all assignment and even has video/powerpoint to use to study. She has a unique ability to make student think at a level that is uncomfortable for them. We ALL learn when our mind gets "STRETCHED".
It is a GREAT day to be an Eagle!
If you haven't checked out your teacher's website please do so today. They will be updating their site and using it to communicate to parents as well as students. I would like to highlight the Counselor's webpage today!!! All Seniors need to get on this site and apply for scholarships ASAP! (I know your parents will be thankful that your are trying to get financial aid for college)
WOW!!! What a great 1st day at GHS! We have 14 new students this year which brings our enrollment up to 180 students. This is very exciting time that people want to be an Eagle in Goldthwaite! Students please remember to bring back your forms packet by friday.
If your student has not had the opportunity to pick up their schedule from the office, please try to pick it up this week. If no one is at the high school office you may call Mr. Speegle at 325-451-0577 and he will let you know when the office will be open. Anyone moving into the district may come to the office to register their child for school. New students will need their original birth certificate, their original social security card, and a copy of their shot records. We look forward to serving you and your child this coming year. Remember the first day of school will be Monday, August 23rd, and the first bell rings at 7:50 am. Do not hesitate to call the high school office if you have any concerns. 325-648-3081 Go Eagles!!!
"Once the mind has been stretched by a new idea, it will never again return to its original size"
Oliver W. Holmes 
This week the teachers began their 2010-2011 school year. I just wanted to let everyone know that all teachers reported on Wednesday for "ALL" days in great shape! They have been working diligently for the past three days to make sure everything is going to be AWESOME for the students when they begin on Monday, August 23rd. We know that we live and teach in a very special place and we hope all students come to school everyday ready to learn.
Our Superintendent gave us a mission to "Not steal time from the students"! So, students you need to be prepared to be receiving the BEST from everyone! I do want to remind all students that the main responsibility for your learning lies with YOU! Do not let anyone hold you back and do not make excuses for anything. YOU make a name for yourself by having a great work ethic and a great attitude. This will allow everyone to learn. GO EAGLES!!!
click to enlarge
This will be the 1st of many blogs about happenings at Goldthwaite High School. As most of you know we have officially began the 2010-2011 school year since two-a-day football workouts have begun. The boys and coaches reported for duty at 6:30 am sharp and began the quest for another GREAT year. Officially school does not start until Monday, August 23rd but for many August 2nd marks the end of summer break.
Girl's Cross country workouts will begin on Monday August 9th at 7:00 pm.
Band workouts will begin in the coming weeks so keep looking for updates on starting times.
Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
-- W. B. Yeats