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From: Dr. Shepherd Date: November 8, 2019 Re: “Q’s News” Valued Community Member: Thank you for subscribing to Q’s News and serving as a communication ambassador for all the great things happening at Victoria ISD. Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions, concerns, thoughts or feedback. #ItsTime

Birthday wishes go out to Dr. Shepherd who will celebrate his birthday on Monday, November 11th and to Mr. Baldwin who will celebrate his

birthday on Tuesday, November 12th.

• Congratulations to these members of the Victoria West Varsity Tennis team on their All-District Selections for District 30-5A. Eleven out of 18 varsity tennis players made the All-District team… Junior Emily Cotton went 6-0 in girls singles in district play and was West’s only varsity player to make 1st team All-District!

Celebrations!

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Boys Singles: Aidan Hall – 2nd Team All District

Logan Gusman - Honorable Mention

Gabriel Franco - Honorable Mention

Girls Doubles: Emily Cotton/Kashish Chand – 2nd Team All District

Grace Guerra/Laney Meyer – 2nd Team All District

Girls Singles: Emily Cotton – 1st Team All-District

Kashish Chand – 2nd Team All-District

Hansa Saif – 2nd Team All-District

Laney Meyer – 2nd Team All-District

Abby Karl - Honorable Mention

Reagan Thompson - Honorable Mention

• Congratulations to Victoria West High School student Rama Hamoudah on her 1st place finish in Original Oratory at the Ray and Carroll Speech & Debate Tournaments. That has earned her a spot in the State Tournament in the spring. Rama also earned 2nd place at the London tournaments. VWHS student Jenin Ajrami placed 3rd in Original Oratory at the Ray Tournament.

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• A collaboration between INVISTA and Victoria ISD has undergone a 15-month, multi-million-dollar renovation. More than 75,000 students and teachers from the local and regional school districts have experienced the INVISTA Wetland outdoor environmental classroom since it opened in October 1998. https://www.invista.com/…/INVISTA-continues-strong-traditio…

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• The elementary Curriculum, Instruction & Accountability Department is hosting a monthly challenge for elementary schools to encourage use of all components of the Imagine Learning programs. October’s contest was based on the most lessons passed in Imagine Math and the most usage in Imagine Language & Literacy. Dudley Elementary won BOTH contests. On Monday, November 4th, elementary CIA team members surprised Dudley staff and students with the Imagine Learning Math Champions and Reading Champions banners. Way to Go Dudley Unicorns!!!! Dudley will proudly display these banners on their campus for the month of November. Winners of the November challenges will be announced on December 2nd.

• Victoria East Titan Choir member John Eric Martinez (3rd chair Tenor 2) has been named to the Region XIV Mixed Choir and is advancing to Area competition in January where he will compete against other singers from several regions across Texas. Titans Emma Seiler (Alto 2) and Dedrick Porter (Tenor 1) were named as alternates to the Region Choir. Congratulations!!!

• Victoria West Warrior Choir had 9 students make the Region Mixed and Region Treble Choir… and 4 of them earned a spot in the Top 5 chairs! Advanced to Area Auditions (the final round before All-State): Senior – Jacob Padron-4th Chair Senior – Joshua Arent-5th Chair Region Mixed Choir: Sophomore – Frank Shell 19th

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Region Treble Choir: Senior – Adalee Kovar-2nd Chair Junior – Alexandria Lynch-3rd Chair Junior – Alexandra Vargas-17th Chair Freshman – Kaiya Patel-22nd Chair Sophomore – Rosie Valadez-23rd Chair Freshman – Paisley Chapa-25th Chair All of these students will perform at the Region XIV Mixed Choir, Region Treble Choir, and Middle School/Junior High Choir clinics and concerts tomorrow, Saturday, November 9th at the Victoria ISD Fine Arts Center. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $5.00.

• Mission Valley Elementary students are participating in a month-long Young Writers Program challenge, sponsored by NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. A total of 45 Mustangs have pledged to write a total of 100,650 words during the month of November. Third grade teacher Melanie Macek and Librarian Rhonda Goebel are sponsoring the program on campus. We can’t wait to see the stories they create!

• The VEHS Titan Freshmen “A” Football Team completed an undefeated District Championship season last Thursday with a 50-0 victory over CC Moody. The Titans finished with a 9-0 overall record and 8-0 District record! TITAN PRIDE!!

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• Congratulations to Victoria East High School custodian Yrma Valles on becoming a U.S.

citizen! ❤️💙 Yrma, an immigrant from Peru, recently shared with one of the VEHS teachers that she had just finished the process & taken the oath to become a United States citizen! "She is an absolutely fantastic custodian and such a blessing to VEHS!" #VISDProud

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• Krystal Hernandez, an English teacher at Victoria West High School, recently won 2nd place in a short story contest with her piece titled, " The Chihuahuan Report." Her story will be published in the company's anthology of contest winners and honorable mentions, Presidio. Bethune & Son's is a local company whose mission is to capture the South Texas lifestyle through material goods, but who also believe in the effort to preserve heritage in the literary arts. Through their Annual Texas Short Story Contest, they seek to preserve the often forgotten art of the short story and simultaneously collect the memories and voices of the very people who contribute to the legacy of the Lone Star State. The company states, "This year we were amazed at the volume and caliber of writing submitted and we are thrilled to see the art of the short story alive and well." Click this link to enjoy the read in Krystal’s short story… https://www.bethuneandson.com/uploads/9/1/5/1/9151355/the_chihuahua_report.pdf

• The Titan Speech & Debate team competed in the Region 3 UIL Congressional Debate Competition this week and swept the top four positions in 5A! Three students qualified for the UIL State meet in January. 1st Place (State Qualifier) - Maria Huerta 2nd Place (State Qualifier) - Isaiah Garcia 3rd Place (State Qualifier) - Laura Martinez 4th Place (State Alternate) - Laurie Lamas With these results Victoria East High School maintains a perfect record of qualifying students for UIL State Congress every year since the event was sanctioned by UIL five years ago!

• Thank you to Ms. Harborth and her amazing 5th graders at Rowland Elementary School for an awesome Veteran’s Day program!!

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• Kudos to Board President, Tami Keeling, for being featured in the November issue of Texas Lone Star, a publication of the Texas Association of School Boards. She’s featured on pages 9-11 of the “A Journey To Excellence” piece. Please click this link to view the article.

GenTX for everyone During the week of November 18 - 22, 2019, Victoria ISD will be sponsoring the Generation Texas (GenTX) College Application Campaign. GenTX week is an opportunity for our schools and community to join together to inform students of the college admissions process (including how to apply for financial aid), to communicate the importance of applying for college, and help our students focus on their future. Our efforts will be echoed throughout the state as we encourage every senior to submit an application to pursue higher education, military service, technical training, or whatever the next steps may be on their college or career path. GenTX is possible through the collaboration of Victoria College, UHV and VISD staff, as well as students, their families, and volunteers across the community. I am eternally grateful to everyone who helps make this successful. East and West High School will host a GenTX Luncheon for 40 students from each campus along with community volunteers. The purpose of this event is to educate students about the college admissions process, financial aid opportunities and career options. Community members will have the opportunity to share their educational and professional experience with students to

Closing Thoughts

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provide them with a clear understanding of the highlighted professions. You will hear more about this through social media and we anticipate coverage from local media as well. During the week, students will be entered into a drawing by providing proof of each of the following: completing the ApplyTexas application, registering for the TSI, SAT or ACT, visiting a college, attending the College Night, or completing the checklist for dual credit enrollment.

Teachers will share their inspirational college stories with students, explaining that college or

technical school is possible regardless of the adversity's students may face. Other activities will

include door decorating, college fight songs being played, photo booth, and a college t-shirt

day.

Post-secondary readiness is essential to the future of our students. We in VISD are proud of the

strides we are making to ensure all our students are equipped with the resources to be

successful after graduation.

In addition, every school district in Texas is required by the TEC to provide comprehensive,

grade-appropriate information regarding the pursuit of higher education to include college and

university options, admission requirements, GPA, required curriculum, college readiness

standards, college entrance exam score requirements, automatic admission to public colleges

and universities, financial aid options and the FAFSA. At least one public speaker will be

engaged to promote the importance of higher education and post-secondary readiness.

You can see this effort requires many participants working in tandem together on behalf of our

students and their future. Again, I thank everyone who helps make these events successful...

including the parents, grandparents and caregivers who will have a conversation with your

senior reminding them that a successful launch from High School means not just a diploma, but

a diploma AND a college acceptance letter; a diploma AND a military recruitment letter; or a

diploma AND industry certifications.