November, 2014

The Slate

Anahuac

Independent School

District

AISD students worked November 1 and 2 to help bring local historical figures back to life during a historical re-enactment “Voices Long Gone.”

The presentation was given at Ana-huac Cemetery over the weekend, attract-ing about 150 persons. AHS students portrayed local citizens Lt Col William B Travis and Edward and George Taylor.

AMS National Junior Honor Society students led visitors from one re-enactment to the other, while others marked transition times with trumpets.

Helping with the students were NJHS sponsor Holly Nelson and AHS teacher Kyra Williams.

“The Anahuac students and staff truly made us Panther proud,

and we wish to com-mend each and every one of them,” said Sheryl Shaw, Chairman of the Chambers Coun-ty Historical Commis-sion. Other local figures portrayed during the event were Thomas Jefferson Chambers, Gov. Ross S. Sterling, Montie Humphrey, Sa-rah Ridge Pix, Charles Willcox, Confederate officer Reason Green

Stephenson and an Atakapa Ishak Native American.

AMS ‘Crushes’ Bullying Anahuac Middle School students wore orange October 23 to “Crush”

teen bullying. The students were given information on the issue of

teen bullying.

Did you know …

~ About 30% of teens in the U. S. have been involved in bullying in

some way.

~ Boys are more likely to use physical bullying, whereas girls tend to

use exclusion as a bullying technique.

~ Effects of being bullied can include depression, suicide, drug use

and stunted social development.

Sixth Graders

Seventh Graders Eighth Graders

AISD Students Help Bring History Back to Life

Shown above are Wyatt Rakestraw as George

Taylor, Caleb Edmonds as Lt. Col. William B.

Travis and Robert Shaw as Edward Taylor. Members of the AMS NJHS helped move attendees

through the numbered re-enactments.

Page 2 The SlateThe Slate

AES teacher Peggy Neaville is shown above

with board member Chris Jircik and AES

Principal Mitzi Higginbotham.

Fifth graders Luis Valencia, Diego Mares, Hannah Cate Edwards, Hannah Kelley and Chris-

tian Sanchez are shown with Supt. James hopper, board member Dr. John Redman and AES

Principal Mitzi Higginbotham.

The Anahuac ISD Board of Trustees

heard a presentation by Texas Associa-

tion of School Boards November 11

regarding consideration of the construc-

tion of a baseball/softball complex.

Twenty acres of land Poskey Road

near S. Main was donated recently by

Cecil Parker for the construction of such

a complex.

TASB representatives and the board

discussed aspects of the facility at

length during the November 11 meeting.

The board will conduct a Facilities Work-

shop in December to consider not only

the sports complex, but other areas of

the district.

In other matters, Jared McCurley of

Entegral presented a report on the state

of the district’s HVAC units and lighting.

McCurley mentioned that some of the

chillers are due to be replaced soon,

and the district still have some outdated

lighting.

McCurley praised AISD for its energy

efficiency, but stated that he may be

able to save the district an additional

$50,000 per year by updating equip-

ment. The board will consider replace-

ment of equipment in future meetings.

Students & Teacher Recognized

In other matters, the board spot-

lighted several students for their conduct

during a recent Red Ribbon Rally in

Houston.

AES Principal Mitzi Higginbotham

commended fifth graders Luis Valencia,

Diego Mares, Hannah Cate Edwards,

Hannah Kelley and Christian Sanchez

for showing exemplary behavior during

the trip.

The board also recognized AES

teacher Peggy Neaville.

Mrs. Higginbotham spoke of Mrs.

Neaville’s assistance in various pro-

grams, adding, “She’s always one step

ahead of me. She’s one of those great

people that you loving working with.”

New Satellite Tutorial Superintendent James Hopper report-

ed that plans are under way for after-

school tutorials to be held in Smith

Point.

He spoke of the need for the satel-lite

tutorial that surfaced during the PRO-

Active Community meeting in Smith

Point in October.

Supt. Hopper added that AES teacher

Cherry Morris will oversee the four-night

a week program, with assistance from

AHS National Junior Honor Society stu-

dents and possibly from retired educa-

tors in the Smith Point community.

Supt. Hopper also said that the stu-

dents will be given a light supper

through a free Texas Department of

Agriculture program “Be a Champion.”

Supt. Hopper said plans are to begin

the Smith Point tutorials as early as De-

cember 1.

Fundraiser & Overnight Trips

The Board approved a fundraiser

proposed by baseball coach Ryan

Roecker.

The fundraiser through the Houston

Astros calls for sales of 500 tickets to

regular Astros games to raise $3,500.

The fundraiser also allows the Pan-

ther baseball team to play a game at

Minute Maid Park.

Head Baseball Coach Ryan Roecker

said the fundraiser was planned to buy

necessary supplies for the base-ball

program.

The board also approved two over-

night student trips.

AHS Principal Eric Humphrey gave

information on a trip May 17-22 to

Washington, D. C.

The students will come up with their

own funds to pay for the trip, lodgings

and airfare, with no cost to the district.

The trip will be coordinated by AHS

coach and History teacher Lin Ellis.

Also approved was a trip to College

Station December 29-31 for the Girls’

Basketball team.

Coach Ellis said that teams are se-

lected to attend the All-Star tournament,

adding it was quite an honor to have the

Lady Panther team chosen.

In other matters, Supt. Hopper an-

nounced the resignation of AMS teacher

David Muir.

Board Discusses Preliminary Baseball/Softball Facility Construction

Page 3 The SlateThe Slate Panther Congress

Team Members

Heading to State!

The Anahuac Panther Congress Aca-

demic UIL team participated in the Re-

gional Meet November 4 at Bellaire

High School. Three students qualified

for the State Congress to be held in

Austin later in the year.

Juniors Ana Gonzalez brought home

the Championship medal, winning First

Place in the 3A division. Austin Hodges

medaled in Second Place and Carlos

Chavez brought home the Third Place

medal. Madalyn Orozco also competed

and will be assisting the team as the

alternate.

“The students did a great job for

their first attempt at the event,” said

team coach Vicki Vardell

“They learned much about the work

that are elected officials have to put in

to get legislation passed.”

Mu Alpha Theta members worked to "scare up" Math interest

during Math Fun Day October 31 at Anahuac Elementary.

Students in third through fifth grade attended the Halloween

themed event and a good time was enjoyed by all involved.

Mu Alpha Theta Anahuac High School’s math club, is already

planning for a Math Fun Day in December for the younger ele-

mentary students.

Mu

Alpha

Theta

Teaches

‘Scary’

Math

At left is runner Johna-than O’Banion.

At right are Melissa Lara, Ximena Valencia, Madalyn Orozco, Addi-son Hemphill, Ana Gon-zalez, Samantha Lara and Maricela Hernan-dez.

The Anahuac Panther Cross Country teams finished a success-

ful season with a trip to the Regional Meet on November 1. It

was the coldest day of the season, but the course was dry and

much of it protected from the wind.

The Junior-dominated Anahuac Girls Team finished in 13th

position out of 24 teams. For the seventh time this season, Mari-

cela Hernandez was the front runner for the Anahuac team. She

finished the race in 47th place out of 170 runners, and a time of

13:28. This was one of her better times of the season.

Maricela was followed by Addison Hemphill in 69th place with a

time of 13:50; Ana Gonzalez finished the two-

mile course in 13:58, and was followed by the

rest of the team which included Ximena Valen-

cia, Samantha Lara, Madalyn Orozco and fresh-

man Melissa Lara. These girls have worked hard all season long

they finished in 2nd place at the Anahuac Meet, 3rd place at the

Liberty Meet, and as District Champs. With a young team, the

girls are looking forward to a senior season next year.

In the Boys’ race, Sophomore Jonathan O’Banion finished the

three-mile race in 20:44, followed by Junior Omar DeLaCruz in

21:18, juniors Daniel Badillo, Michael Hightower, Austin Hodges

also competed in the race. With this team having no seniors,

they, too, are looking forward to next year.

All of these runners have worked very hard this year and are

looking forward to next year,” said Coach Vickie Vardell.

“Congratulate them on a job well done. They have represent-

ed the team, school and community very well all season long.”

Runners Compete in Regional Meet

Page 4 The SlateThe Slate 6th Grade A

Brady Bertrand, Natalie DeLaCruz, Jewell English, Conner Garcia, Wyatt Gates, Eric Martinez, Preslie Moor, Reagan Richard and Mailey Sherman.

6th Grade A-B

Megan Alfred, Cody Anderson, Jesse-nia Cabrera, Roselin Cabrera, Anna Cao, Victor Cisneros, Sebastian Contreras, Luke Cooper, Jimmy Davis, Krashaun Davis, Christian DeHoyos, Oracio DeLa-Cruz, Cade Dye, Coleton Green, Becca Henicke, Kevin Hernandez, Sandra Her-nandez, Chase Herrington, Destiny Hus-band, Zoe Key, Breighana Lino, Kassidy Ortiz, Riley Patton, Ashunnie Perry, Kaylen Rivas, Carson Shaw, Alexy Sierra, Owen Stephenson, Ferris Tilton, Alex Vallejo, Dadrien Whittington and Jaterran Williams.

7th Grade A

Sydney Bertrand, Jackson Hamp-ton, Tracy Ly and Brandon Winbush.

7th Grade A-B

Bree’anna Anderson, Reagan Ar-tis-Briggs, Maci Bennett, Jose Cabre-ra, Ana Chavez, Brylie Dillard, Brooke Ellis, Mikayla Griffith, Logan Hatfield, James Henry, Santiago Her-nandez, Foster Kreuzer, Cydney Las-setter, Emily Muniz, Cecilia Palacios, Morgan Rose, Jose Sanchez and Donaven Tarver.

8th Grade A

Kodi Abshier, Aaliah Castillo, Blane Daugherty, Toy Humphrey and Kassidy Tilton.

8th Grade A-B

Brianna Buras, Esmeralda Cabrera, Andrea Cain, Kristin Cao, Gavin Carn, Joseph Cormier, David Edwards, Kevin

Gonzalez, Kate Hankamer, Mitchell Har-graves, Lindsey Hendrix, Kevin Husband, Aaron Hvamstad, Dylan Jircik, Zachary Kelley, Kyle Lake, Jai”laia Landry, Saman-tha Lopez, Jennifer Lugo, Francisco Mar-tinez, Cameron Mayes, Beau Naquin, Marlee Neill, Jacy Norris, Anthony Ramirez, Keely Salyers, Mitchell Shaw, Olivia Sierra, Alex Smith, Kaila Thomas and Bryan Wilpitz.

AMS

Honor Roll

9th Grade A Kaitlyn Bennett, Vincent Gobert, Os-

waldo Hernandez, Cara Hooper, Camryn Jackson, Victoria Magana, Christopher Moulton, Armando Netro, Morgan Oler, Emma Swonke and Wil-liam Wilkins.

9th Grade A-B

Ty Bergeron, Ross Bess, Haley Binur, Jaden Blue, Auston Brinkley, Tay-lor Bronson, Anthony Capili, Alexis Cas-tillo, Araceli Chavez, Tia Cormier, Ysenia Diaz, Lilian Duran, Scott Golle-her, Victor Gonzalez, Keleigh Hampton, Dawsyn Harmon, Jodee Hatfield, Mason Henicke, Tracy Henry, Darshan Hill, Cortney Hisler, Elizabeth Klecka, Hector Lara, Alasia Lewis, Arturo Mares, Qatar-rah Mayes, Hailey McDaniel, Ryan Mur-phy, Skylar Norsworthy-Mathews, Wil-liam Orozco, Philip Parsons, Jovette Perez, Ivette Rivas, Victoria Rivas, Trent Robertson, Angelica Romero, Bridgette Sherman, Ty’Rique Smith-Gants, Katri-

na Swope, Leonel Vargas and Eri-ca Whitehouse.

10th Grade A Cameron Bertrand, Claudia Chavez, Guadalupe Diaz, Denton Fugere, Erykah Hill, Shelbi Hueb-ner, Haley Jircik, Brittany McDan-iel, Gabriela Salazar and Meghan Thomas.

10th Grade A-B Alyssa Adame, Coley Adams, Stephanie Amaya, Ashlee Brinkley,

Dylan Broussard, Alberto Cabrera, Fran-cisco Cabrera, Rebecca DeFusto, Ken-neth Edmonds, Keagan Frank, Taylor Hankamer, Rachael Hargraves, Landon Hatfield, Jared Jannise, Kody Knupple, Haley Kruger, Mayra Landin, Alyssa Maddox, Jason Martin, James McDan-iel, Brody Miller, Madelyne Nauman, Garrett Nelson, Jonathan O’Banion, Sandra Pescador, Ashley Ponce, Dalton Richards, Kailee Richey, Landyn Rose, Zackery Rose, Zsanee Russell, Ana Salazar, Robert Shaw, Esperanza Sier-ra, Chance Stephenson, Sabina Trahan, Jenna Turner, Hunter Tyler, Calob Wiley and Imani Wooding.

11th Grade A

Ximena Valencia and Madison Wil-kins.

11th Grade A-B

Eduardo Alvaraz, John Artis, Bethany Brown, Beau Cendejas, Allison Cormier, Omar DelaCruz, Mason Duhon, Ashley

Gates, Ana Gonzalez, Addison Hemphill, Rhett Hemphill, Anne-Marie Henry, Beatriz Hernandez, Maricela Hernandez, Michael Hightower, Austin Hodges, Brianna Humphrey, Kaitelynn Innerarity, Jacob Jackson, Quincy Lew-is, Cameron Lieck, Jamus Lotz, Justin Martin, Rebecca Medders, Paulin Netro, Dante Nguyen, Phung Nguyen, Maegan Oler, Madalyn Orozco, Tori Parish, Shon Patton, Russell Rakestraw, Norma Ramirez, Edgar Razo, Liliana Romero, Peyton Sanders, Kathryn Sherman, Ali Storey, Kaylie Villemez and Victoria Wedin.

12th Grade A Diamond Allen, Kristyn Bennett, Tay-

lor Dunigan, Alexandra Kontominas, Austin Nauman and Bryan Qualli.

12th Grade A-B

Melani Aguilar, Jazmine Albritton, Traci Alexander, Sierra Anderson, Josh-uia Cooper, Rosa Diaz, Robert Ed-wards, Asia Fontenot, Cristal Garcia, Roy Golleher, Justin Haley, Toan Huynh, Jakub Lucas, Dominique Lugo, Latashia Lyons, Ashlynne Maddox, Me-gan Majors, Oscar Martinez, Selena Morua, Blake Moulton, Noah Moulton, Alejandra Muniz, Elaine Nguyen, Chris-topher O’Banion, Zachary Reynolds, Sarah Robicheaux, Carlee Rose, Wil-liam Stanley, Jazmin Thomas, Ebony Williams and Alexia Wynne.

AHS

Honor Roll

Page 5 The SlateThe Slate

Students Karla Dean’s and Corena Fitzgerald's Environ-

mental, AP Biology and Roots and Shoots Club classes are

participating with “Get Hip to Habitat” again this year.

“We have been participating in the Galveston Bay Founda-

tion Get Hip to Habitat program for two years,” said Ms. Fitz-

gerald.

Students harvest the grasses in the fall semester and re-

plant them in their permanent location in the spring. While the

plants are on campus, the students are learning about pH,

salinity, plant health, and the importance of plants for the

health of Galveston Bay, the Gulf, and us.

The "Get Hip to Habitat" program brings environmental

education and marsh restoration initiatives together in one

program.

Students harvest smooth cordgrass (a native marsh grass)

from a nursery in Baytown then transplant their stems into

containers, and cultivate the plants in shallow, plastic pools

located on the school campus.

The pools are set up to mimic an estuarine marsh environ-

ment where these plants naturally thrive. Students carefully

monitor and maintain the salinity and pH of the water in their

mini-marsh nurseries for the duration of the project.

After a season of growth, students transplant the matured

plants at carefully selected marsh restoration sites around

Galveston Bay.

"Get Hip to Habitat" has the dual benefits of introducing

students to the natural resources of the Galveston Bay estu-

ary and providing a source of native wetland plants for use in

Galveston Bay wetland restoration projects.

AHS Students Remain ‘Hip to Habitat’

Students harvest cordgrass

before transplanting them

into containers on the AHS

campus.

Anahuac High School FFA members competed in the District Leadership development Events Contest in Liberty November 3. Listed at right are the results from the competition:

Ag Advocacy 2nd place - Advancing to Area

Jr. Chapter Conducting 1st place - Advancing to Area

Sr. Chapter Conducting 2nd place -

Advancing to Area Radio 2nd place - Advancing to Area Public Relations 1st place - Advanc-

ing to Area Jr. Creed Speaking 2nd place - Ad-

vancing to Area Jr. Skills 2nd place - Ad-vancing to Area Sr. Skills 1st place - Ad-vancing to Area Sr. Creed 1st place - Ad-vancing to Area Jr. Quiz 1st place - Ad-vancing to Area Job Interview - 5th place.

FFA Teams Advance to Area Competition

Page 6 The SlateThe Slate

AMS cheerleaders performed at the Anahuac

Elementary Red Ribbon Week pep rally.

Students Participate in Red Ribbon Week Events

The entire 5th grade class attend-

ed the “Red Ribbon Rally” October 23 at Houston City Hall. The rally is

held in honor of slain DEA Officer Enrique “KiKi” Camerano.

The students were given the op-

portunity to act as city councilmen by presenting a city ordinance that

dealt with drugs and giving the audi-ence a chance to respond and vot-

ing for or against the ordinance. Students were lectured to about

the dangers of gangs and how K-9

dogs help law enforcement in the fight against drugs. The students

enjoyed a picnic style lunch and dancing to end the rally.

Above are some of the AES students

who dressed up for Western day dur-

ing Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated nation-

wide to bring awareness to students on

the importance of staying drug-free.

At left are students decked out in red

in celebration of the week.

Page 7 The SlateThe Slate

The 8th grade Pre-AP students

prepared the post-mortem of

Ichabod Crane after finishing the

story “The Legend of Sleepy Hol-

low”

“This was a great way for the

students to analyze Ichabod’s

character based on his every ac-

tion and thought!” said teacher

Tammy King.

Examining Ichabod

Should’ve Bought

‘Spook Insurance!’ AHS Student Council sold "Spook

Insurance" before Halloween.

The insurance guaranteed clean-up

by STUCO members if your house

was wrapped. The students were

busy covering their “claims.”

Mitzi Higginbotham

New AES Principal A reception was held recently to welcome

Mitzi Higginbotham as new AES Principal.

Mrs. Higginbotham has served at AES for

eight years, four years as teacher, and four

years as Assistant Principal.

She replaces Tetyana Yeromenko, who

resigned to take a position with Houston ISD.

More Red Ribbon

Rally ... The 6th grade GT students

attended the Red Ribbon

Rally at Houston City Hall

on October 23.

The students actually par-

ticipated in a mock City-

Council meeting to wage

war on drugs.

The Slate

Important AISD Dates To Remember:

Nov. 20: AES Report Cards. Nov. 24: Bad Weather Day — No School. Nov. 25-28: Thanksgiving Holiday — No School. Dec. 9: AISD Board meeting, 6 p.m., in the Administration

building — public welcome to attend. Dec. 9: Winter Band Concert, 6 p.m., in the Auditorium. Dec. 12: Mug and a Hug. Come & go, 8:30 a.m. — 4 p.m., Administration Building.

Anahuac ISD Administration Office

804 Mikhael Ricks Drive

Anahuac High School

201 S. Kansas Street

Anahuac Middle School

706 Mikhael Ricks Drive

Anahuac Elementary

905 Ross Sterling

District Phone: 409-267-3600

The Slate Is published by

Anahuac Independent School District

P. O. Box 369 Anahuac, Tx. 77514

Superintendent

James Hopper

Board of Trustees

Calvin Hill …………...…. President

Ken McGraw ………..…. Vice President

Kate Hampton …………. Secretary

Chris Jircik Dr. John Redman

Lane Bertrand Cris Stephenson

Anahuac ISD does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, or disability in provid-ing education services, activities, and programs, including vocational programs, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

The following district staff members have been designated to coordinate compli-ance with these legal requirements:

· Title IX Coordinator, for concerns regarding discrimination on the basis of sex: James Hopper 409-267-2001.

· Section 504 Coordinator, for con-

cerns regarding discrimination on the basis of disability: Cindy Ber-trand 409-267-2017.

Anahuac High School art and theater art students braved the rainy weather November

5 to attend the Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. The students enjoyed viewing

Renaissance crafts, art and performances of that era. Students had an enjoyable and

educational time despite the bad weather.

“A special thanks to Coach West, our bus driver, who fought the rainy downpours to

get us all safely back to Anahuac,” said Art instructor Annette Lee.

Students Experience the Renaissance Era

The Anahuac High School Marching Band has been busy with competitions. The Pride traveled to Port-Neches Groves High School October 18 for the Region 10 UIL Marching Con-test. After giving its best perfor-mance to date, the band was awarded Superior ratings.

The Pride continued to push themselves. Taking the com-ments and suggestions of the judges to heart, band students continued to work toward making their show better every single rehearsal.

The Pride traveled to the Waller Marching Festival October 25 in Wal-ler. At this contest, the band was

competing with 3A and 5A bands from across the state. After pre-liminary competition, the band was awarded Best in Class Mu-sic, Best in Class Marching, Best in Class Colorguard, and Best in Class Percussion.

As 3A class champions, the band performed at finals and gave its final, and best, perfor-mance of the year. Although the band did not place in the overall contest, The Pride was awarded class 3A Champions and defeat-ed several 5A bands as well.

“The Pride of Anahuac would like to thank all administrators, teachers and coaches for all of their support this year!” said Di-rector of Bands Mike Brodowski.

AHS Marching Band

Earns Superior Rating