| ✅ Exercise your right to have your say at the ballot box this Tuesday on the ϱ ISD Board of Trustees positions and 2022 Bond proposals. Don't forget, Tuesday is now a newly minted student holiday that includes two hours off for staff to make their voice heard. This week we celebrate the start of National Native American History Month. Texas is home to three federally recognized Native American tribes, the Alabama-Coushatta and Kickapoo Traditional Tribes and also the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas. 🏈 If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out this video of Crockett ECHS football coach Shannon Reed.And now, on to our feature presentations… 🍿🥤 |
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| Staff Weekly |
| By Paul Stinson ● Nov 04, 2022
Smart Brevity® count: 3.5 mins... 992 words
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✅ Exercise your right to have your say at the ballot box this Tuesday on the ϱ ISD Board of Trustees positions and . Don't forget, Tuesday is now a newly minted student holiday that includes two hours off for staff to make their voice heard.
This week we celebrate the start of . Texas is home to three federally recognized Native American tribes, the Alabama-Coushatta and Kickapoo Traditional Tribes and also the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas.
🏈 If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out this video of .
And now, on to our feature presentations… 🍿🥤
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1 big thing: Retention stipends arriving Nov. 18
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Back in June, the board of trustees approved retention stipends for all full-time staff who were employed as of Sept. 1.
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Stipends will be paid in two installments, with active full-time employees receiving a total of $2,000 and active, part-time, benefits-eligible employees receiving $1,000, less taxes.
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🌟 You’ll get the first half on the Friday before Thanksgiving break, Nov. 18.
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You’ll get the second half on the Friday before Spring Break on Mar. 10, 2023.
Why it matters: The board is committed to making ϱ ISD the highest-paying district in Central Texas, and while we work toward that, these stipends are a way of showing appreciation for your continued commitment to our students.
The fine print: These stipends are subject to taxes, but not to TRS or any other benefits-related charges that typically appear on your paycheck.
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2. A second big thing: McCallum fiddler takes second nationally
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| McCallum's Perfect Fourth Quartet are, from left, Georgia Halverson, Mateo Jones, Z Campbell and Thea Krische. |
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🎶 McCallum High School student Georgia Halverson, above left, earned a second-place finish at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, Idaho, a contest that dates back to 1953.
Go deeper: Halverson says her growth as a musician parallels her emergence socially: “The community that I’ve built here and the quartet has made me come out of my shell a lot. I’m just able to engage with people a lot more. That’s definitely helped a lot in the fiddle community because I’ve also built a lot in my community there because of my social skills growing.”
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What they’re saying: “The music for the tunes is now found in books published by teachers where it used to be passed down through the generations of fiddlers,” said National Oldtime Fiddler Contest Chairman Cindy Campbell. “Without young talent like Georgia, the ability to play and the music would become a dying art.”
🎤 What’s next: Halverson will compete in the Bob Wills Fiddle and Festival Contest Nov. 5 in Greenville, Texas. The Perfect Fourth Quartet of which she and three fellow McCallum students are a part, will play their first professional gig as paid musicians accompanying the SoCo Women’s Chorus winter concert Dec. 10 and 11.
💭 Paul's thought bubble: while taking to the stage takes courage and great technical skill, fiddlers from Texas face the additional task of demonstrating their capacity to distill a longer tune to its essence so that it fits within the contest's 4- to 5-minute performance time limits.
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3. What’s on the ballot: Trustee seats, bond proposals
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| Learn more about the bond in a graphic short story, above, written and illustrated by recent McCallum High School graduate Kai Kirkham Macias. |
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🍎 Five seats on the Board of Trustees are also up for election, including Districts 1, 4, 6 and 7 and at-large position 9. Find your district and learn more information about the candidates:
✅ Also on the ballot is the $2.44-billion bond package.
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Proposition A would cover the majority of projects with $2.32 billion for school modernizations, safety and security upgrades, maintenance needs and other facility improvements.
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Proposition B would provide $75.5 million for one-to-one student and staff devices, classroom technology upgrades and improved Wi-Fi access.
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Proposition C would bring $47.4 million to districtwide stadium facilities like Burger, Nelson, Delco and Noack which are also used for community events such as vaccination clinics and graduation ceremonies.
Go deeper: Learn more about the bond in written and illustrated by recent McCallum High School graduate Kai Kirkham Macias.
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4. Got a question for Dr. Mays?
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Dr. Mays has 90 seconds to answer 3 questions with a special guest, Pablo from Oak Springs Elementary School.
This episode has information on:
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Why it’s difficult to have baseball/softball for middle school.
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What the Common App is and how to use it to plan future learning.
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How families can communicate about bullying on campuses.
What they're saying: The questions that have been coming in have been so important and helpful to many other students and families.
What's next: Keep sending in your questions to Dr. Mays via or text your questions to 512.729.1541.
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📚 Paul is reading Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook.
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