District in Pictures

When a February polar vortex winter storm walloped Wichita Falls with its below-zero temperatures, electricity outages, snow and ice, 39 WFISD Maintenance team members stayed on duty searching out and repairing leaks. Because of their quick action, water leaks and pipe breaks were caught early and damage was not catastrophic. The District sustained less than $4,000 in damage per building. Even with 26 buildings, damage did not mount to meet the District’s $100,000 insurance deductible. “Our Maintenance staff was unbelievable, finding and dealing with issues,” said Superintendent Mike Kuhrt in a report to board members in the February 22 board meeting. Pictured: A list of water leaks and pipe breaks fill a whiteboard in the Maintenance department.

Water lines froze and broke at 19 WFISD campuses during the recent snow storm and sub-zero temperatures that closed local schools for a week. Five schools – Hirschi, Fain, Lamar, Burgess and Kirby – lost power for several days. A waterline in a Barwise portable froze, then flooded the building, forcing workers to remove the subfloor and install a new subfloor and tile floor. At Kirby, water lines froze in the kitchen and the cooling tower. At McNiel, the sprinkler line in the custodian’s closet froze and broke, flooding the area. A leak in a Zundy third-floor science lab sent water leaking all the way to the first floor. Workers replaced ceiling tiles in the second-floor bathroom and first-floor bath and hallway. They also cleaned snow off parking lots and driveways so their vans and trucks could get around the schools. “The guys did a great job and worked hard,” said Chris Fain, maintenance director. Pictured: Water damage caused by broken pipes.

Angela Rooney, principal at Booker T. Washington Elementary, has been named the 2021 Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA) Region 9 Principal of the Year. “It’s a huge honor,” said Mrs. Rooney. “I’m so humbled by this award. We have a great team at Booker T, and I don’t do anything alone.” Mrs. Rooney has worked with WFISD at Booker T. Washington for seven years. She has also served in the Air Force for 23 years, where she currently holds the title of Superintendent of the 301st Logistics Readiness Squadron. She is married to Phil, a retired Air Force member who works on base, and they have two high school-aged children.

Ashley Murdock, Franklin’s assistant principal, was named the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA) Region 9 2021 Assistant Principal of the Year. She has served WFISD for nine years. This is her third year as an assistant principal at Franklin, which followed six years as an AP at West Foundation. She is married to McNiel Middle School tennis coach Dale Murdock and has two children who attend Franklin. This year, both Region 9 TEPSA award recipients – Mrs. Murdock and Booker T. Washington Principal Angela Rooney -- are WFISD staff members.

Breann Molina, a second-grade teacher at Franklin Elementary, was named the March 2021 Teacher Spotlight Award winner. This monthly award is sponsored by First Bank and Newschannel 6 KAUZ. It recognizes a teacher who goes above and beyond in the classroom. "Great job, Ms. Molina!" said Ben Franklin Principal Angie Betts. "Your willingness to take on our K-2 remote has been a blessing to many!" PIE Partners River Bend Nature Center, Star Brite Cleaners and Market Street provide gifts to Spotlight Award winners.

Superintendent Mike Kuhrt reported to board members on February 22 that 38 WFISD staff members and students were currently infected or quarantined by the COVID-19 virus. That number continues to drop, not only for the school district but around the county. The current count: 4 students and 4 staff members are sidelined with the virus. During the past year, WFISD has recorded a total of 875 students and staff members who missed school because they were infected or quarantined by the virus. Of those, 470 were students; 405 were staff. “I still believe our schools are the safest place to be,” said Mr. Kuhrt. On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate across Texas.

WFISD has four bilingual programs in the District, and the bilingual teachers in three of them have received the ultimate honor: They’ve been voted by their peers as their schools’ 2021 Teacher of the Year. They are Ana Aguilar, a first-grade bilingual teacher at Zundy Elementary, voted Zundy's Teacher of the Year. Alma Allen, a second-grade bilingual teacher at Scotland Park, is Scotland Park's Teacher of the Year. Claudia Lopez, a first-grade bilingual teacher at Lamar, is Lamar's Teacher of the Year. Foreign Language Director Greta Benavides said the achievements of the three teachers point to their expertise in the classroom. All three will continue in the Teacher of the Year competition that will name the WFISD Teacher of the Year later in the spring.

On Sunday, Rider’s Raiderettes competed in the Crowd Pleasers Competition in Allen, Texas. The dance team of Allison Clancy, Mindy Lee and Page Montgomery took first place in the “Trio” competition. The Raiderettes earned the Academic Award of Excellence and were named Grand Champion Officers and Grand Champion Team in the Small Team Classic category. Overall, the Raiderettes received second place in the Classic Team category. “We learned our four team routines from three hired choreographers who each came in to teach the routines,” said sponsor Angie Weiss. “From there the girls tried out for the routines, we set formations and polished the routines to the best of our ability.”

Many WFISD staff members proved that they still have energy left after school and a long work day to participate in the Wichita Theatre’s “Matilda the Musical” production, which runs from February 26 through March 13. Participating McNiel Middle School teachers are Mark Dudley, Zach Jackson, Melanie Wright and Sarah Cook. Haynes Math Instructional Coach Adrian Cargal (pictured left) is also acting, as is Community Relations secretary Emily Clements, who directed the production and also plays teacher Miss Honey. McNiel students Emily Calvert, Allie Calvert, Bryleigh Tarter, Kresee Marony, Saylor Garza and Lucas Steele also have roles in the production.

Two Career Education Center students from Rider High School who participate in the Ag program competed last weekend in the San Antonio Livestock Show. Alexis Nix and Riley Wood placed second in their division in a special category called the AG Mechanics Marketplace Competition. They competed by taking a written exam and writing a sales presentation for a deer feeder that was constructed by fellow students Logan Diehm and Oscar Salgado, along with others in their ag classes. Auto Collision students contributed by painting the feeder. The project was one of 20 that went to a live auction where Alexis and Riley had to describe and sell their project. The feeder ultimately sold for $2,500. The money goes back to the FFA program to fund future projects. Students work under the direction of Ag teacher Stephen Davis (pictured bottom left). “This competition takes Ag Mechanics to the next level by not only exhibiting the quality of a mechanics project but demonstrating the marketing and sales of the product,” said Daniel Nix.

The libraries at WFISD’s four elementary campuses that house bilingual programs – Zundy, Scotland Park, Southern Hills, and Lamar – each received a shipment of 125 books written in Spanish. The fiction and nonfiction books will serve students from pre-K through fifth-grade. “Kids need books to be windows, mirrors, and sliding doors,” said Foreign Language Director Greta Benavides. “They need to look out into the world. They need to see themselves, and they need to know they can go to parallel universes.” The books were purchased with federal funds. Another 50 culturally-oriented books written in English were also shipped to each school. WFISD serves students who speak 28 different languages. The top four languages in the District are English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic, said Mrs. Benavides. Pictured: Southern Hills librarian Ruby Adkins shows off her book delivery.

Jefferson Elementary Principal Erica Adkins helped make sure that WFISD’s Maintenance team wasn’t forgotten while they were repairing buildings at a time when most WFISD employees were bundled up at home. She helped collect more than $2,000 in donations from WFISD employees. Some of it was used to show appreciation by giving the team an entire week of tasty treats purchased from locally owned businesses that may also have been impacted by the storm. “Maintenance received home-baked cookies and brownies on Monday, Circle M Bakery donuts on Tuesday, a huge barbeque lunch from McKinney BBQ with tea from Raising Cane’s on Wednesday, breakfast from 8th Street Coffee House on Thursday, and El Norteno’s burritos and Yogurt Journey frozen yogurt on Friday,” said Ms. Adkins. “It was such a cool experience to see WFISD come together to show support for these hard-working men and women.” Pictured: Former WFISD Maintenance employee James “Skip” McKinney (left) and Maintenance Supervisor Mike Fisher (right).

There are all sorts of ways to celebrate Dr. Seuss, and Fowler students and teachers didn’t limit themselves. They chose to celebrate Dr. Seuss all week with a different theme each day. Pictured: Crazy Hair Day.

One unit that’s hard to teach without labs in the sixth-grade science unit on rocks and minerals. The McNiel sixth-grade science team couldn’t figure out how to teach virtual students without labs, so they did the next best thing: They put together a lab kit for every virtual student to use at home. They bagged up everything needed to test a variety of rocks and even a pet rock. “The students will have to use the kit to identify the pet rock’s parent minerals,” said Jessica Mitchell. “Now all the students are able to 'rock' and roll in science.”

Lamar Physical Education Coach Kyle Redding transformed the Lamar gym into the Amazon River to create a challenging game for students. In this game, students move across the floor filled with "villages" by hopping on one foot onto "rocks" and by jumping or leaping into hoops using both feet. When students make it across the “Amazon River,” they must gather food supplies (stuffed animals) and return to their village. If a student falls or loses his food supply, he must start over. “The kids love this activity and were eager to cross the river,” said Kaycie Taylor, at-risk coordinator.

Ag teacher LeAnn Scharbrough, who teaches the Ag Principles course at Wichita Falls High School and Rider High School, was in the middle of a 21-day project of hatching chicks when the snow storm hit. Everybody knows that eggs must stay warm, so what was she to do? Initially, she had set up incubators in the Principles of Ag classrooms at Rider and WFHS. “We talked about the reproductive system of a chicken, dissected a normal egg to see the different parts, and then we started incubating the eggs that were donated to us,” she said. Students candled the eggs a few times to see the developing chicks through the shells. Then came news of the approaching snow storm. “I contacted a Texas A&M professor and told him my plan of taking the eggs home and how I would do it, and he agreed," said Mrs. Scharbrough. "So, on Friday before the storm, I put the eggs back in a carton in an insulated bag wrapped in a towel and put it in a cooler. I raced to Rider and did the same things with those eggs. I live in Iowa Park, so I had my husband waiting for me at home to help me get the incubators set back up and the eggs put back in as quickly as possible.” In all, 21 chicks hatched. The chicks will soon go to new homes with some students and staff members.

Hirschi special education teacher Jordan Darnell, 33, has been fighting COVID-19 in a local hospital and has been in critical condition for days. When Hirschi Special Education Diagnostician Kathy Mickus reached out to Ms. Darnell’s mother to ask how to help, her mother asked for one simple thing: prayer. Hirschi’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes group and math teacher David Cavitt led a prayer service March 5 at 7:25 a.m. in front of the school and invited any student or staff member to come and pray for Ms. Darnell to return to good health. The crowd formed a large circle at the school entrance. More prayer took place at Rider. Thursday marked Jordan's Day 19 on a ventilator. Her mother reported Jordan was making small improvements in the right direction and urged continued prayer. Because Ms. Darnell’s favorite color is purple, Hirschi Assistant Principal Greg Darden okayed all staff members to wear purple with their jeans to honor her. Ms. Darnell graduated from Rider High School where her grandfather, Morris Mercer, coached and coined the term ROHO. She loves her students and the HiLites Dance Team and has volunteered for nearly 10 years with The Arc of Wichita County. Pictured clockwise from top: Hirschi outdoor prayer service on Friday morning; Rider prayer service Friday; Jordan Darnell.

On February 25, the students in the Kirby Young Men’s Club were treated to a Texas Roadhouse meal and a Midwestern State University men’s basketball game. Dewayne Bell generously paid for all meals served at Texas Roadhouse. MSU’s Coach Leslie provided basketball tickets. Young Men’s Club is an outreach to a special group of young men at Kirby by a team of volunteers: Will Clark, Andrew Bell, Brendan Bell, Brian Johnson, Chris McNeese, Josh Young, Zach Davis, Tristan Browne and Michael Frank. Kayci Bell organized the event and brought cupcakes.

The Wichita Falls FFA (Future Farmers of America) Club hosted its first Junior FFA Night by welcoming students in grades 3 through 8 and their parents. They were invited to explore the many agriculture classes taught in WFISD and learn what FFA is about. “We all had a fun time and look forward to hosting this event again next year,” said LeAnn Scharbrough, agriculture science teacher and FFA advisor.

Lamar kindergarten teacher Stephanie Roberts embellished 50 masks for students in all three Lamar kindergarten classes. She printed decals on vinyl, cut them out by hand, and applied decals to all the masks.

The Special Needs Fund, which began in the 1999-2000 school year with a donation of $1,135, has been helping WFISD students for 20 years. Life can—and does—throw complicated problems into the lives of WFISD students and their families. During the past 20 years, the Special Needs Funds has stocked a supply closet for all campuses to access. What’s in it? Hygiene supplies, lice treatment, alarm clocks for truant students, home cleaning supplies, deodorant, socks and underwear, clothing and uniforms. Pictured: Social worker Debbie Gonzalez.

On Monday, it was Hirschi High School. On Tuesday, Wichita Falls High School. On Wednesday, Brook Village Early Childhood Center. On Thursday, Cunningham Elementary. On Friday, Sheppard Elementary. Administrators bundled up and served breakfast treats under outdoor pop-up tents near the back doors of five schools this week. Each event is a little masterpiece of planning. Food must be donated or purchased and arranged to arrive at the school at 6:30 a.m. This week's sponsors were the Bill Altman family, Falls Clinic of Chiropractic (two events) and Star Brite cleaners (two events). Chartwells installs the tent and beverages. Administrators dress warmly and don masks to greet teachers and serve the food for an hour or more before arriving at their offices for their own work day. The pop-up breakfasts are the District’s way of thanking campus staff members for the extraordinary efforts they’ve put in this year for WFISD students. Pictured clockwise from top: Sheppard, Cunningham, WFHS, Hirschi, Brook Village.

Lamar Elementary Principal Amanda Garcia is now meeting with playground designers to provide input on playground options, since donations have come in and put the school to its fundraising goal for the school’s new playground. Most recent donations: $500 from Claude Miller, owner of R.D. Gulley Jewelers, and $1,000 from the West Foundation Elementary PTO. More donations mean the school can build a bigger play structure.

Annaliese Murray, a Rider Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry teacher, is part of the City Hope Church family that recently took on an ambitious project. As co-pastor with her pastor husband, Ben, at City Hope Church, the two partnered with a company to pay off medical debt in 2020. They helped erase nearly $1 million in medical debt for more than 400 families in Wichita County. “We just like to make a difference and show God’s love to people however we can,” said Mrs. Murray. As a District PIE Partner, City Hope Church has helped many WFISD schools. Mrs. Murray is a Rider graduate from the Class of 1999. She returned to Rider to teach in January 2020. Their four sons attend Rider, West Foundation and Fowler.

WFISD received a donation in the spring of 2020 and another donation in January 2021 from the Perkins-Prothro Foundation that were aimed specifically at meeting family needs created by the COVID-19 virus. Social worker David Shipley said the two donations created a new account called the Emergency COVID Relief Fund and have been helpful for many families. “We used that money to assist with gas, electric and water bills and an occasional rent payment,” he said. Anyone who knows of a student’s family who has been affected by COVID can talk to their campus counselor. The counselor can submit a request for assistance with COVID-related bills, said Mr. Shipley.

Franklin music teacher Abi Parker couldn’t let a good “Go Texan Day” go to waste. “This music teacher taught line dancing,” she said. Students learned dances like Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Achy Breaky Heart, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Electric Slide. They also learned a circle dance to a traditional folk jig.

McNiel Special Education students in the Functional Alternative class learned recently about the history of New Orleans and Mardi Gras, which they celebrated February 16. “Of course, they had a piece of delicious King Cake,” said paraprofessional Juana Cantu. “That way, history can be more interesting.” The class is taught by McNiel teacher Sherrie Reddick.

What would Texas be without its famous food? Students in Cunningham’s pre-K classes, Head Start classes and PPCD classes enjoyed a Texas food tasting on “Go Texan Day.”

The Wichita Falls High School Digital Media class created a one-minute video about how their school handled COVID-19 precautions. Instead of making a video that dutifully recited all the COVID rules, they took a creative approach and created a black-and-white film with the old newsreel style, complete with jerky, speeded-up action. Under the direction of Scott Davenport, they entered the video in a statewide competition sponsored by the Texas Association of School Boards. Its theme: “Texas Students: Overcomers. Learners. Achievers.” The contest winner will receive a first-place prize of $5,000. Meanwhile, this week has been the first week that the videos have been set up to take digital votes to enable one video to win the People’s Choice Award. The school with the most views through March 5 of their entered video will win. Watch the video here.

JROTC students at Hirschi High School and Rider High School responded to a request that Valentines be sent to veterans as a sign of appreciation for their service. The two school groups joined with the Major Francis Grice Chapter and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution to sign and mail 100 Valentines to the Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home in Amarillo. Each ROTC group received certificates of appreciation for their efforts.

The Wichita Falls High School PALS who visit Zundy Elementary students create unique bonds with their mentees. Two Zundy students are so attached to their PAL mentors that Zundy staff members Madeline Eubanks and Chelsey Mawsom took them to watch a WFHS varsity soccer match, where the two mentors were competing. During the game, the two Zundy students cheered and shouted. Their PAL soccer players waved, gave them a thumbs-up, and visited with them after the game. “The two youngsters were so excited and proud,” said WFHS teacher and PAL sponsor Debbie Pepper.

“Sometimes we learn by just watching,” said West Foundation Principal Kim Smith, who took this photo of two kindergarten students who were enamored by the big machinery in action not far from their playground. On Wednesday, temperatures climbed into the 70s, and kindergarten students Cohen Veitenheimer and Kaden Brown watched the backhoe with fascination. Home construction is underway all around the West Foundation campus right now, said Ms. Smith.

Jefferson fourth-grade math teacher Nia Gonzales knows that rewards matter to her students, and sometimes the best reward is simply playing games with her. On Monday, one student redeemed her reward titled, “Game Time with Teacher,” and the two played Connect 4 and Mancala. “We had the best time,” said Ms. Gonzales. Her reward system allows virtual students and face-to-face students to earn prizes. In-person students earn paper keys; virtual students earn virtual keys. “When a student has earned five keys, they get a password and a chance to try it out on our virtual locks,” she said. “When the password works, and the student chooses the correct key, the prize is revealed!”

In Zundy kindergarten teacher Craig Conner’s classroom, students will ring a bell when they reach any academic or personal goal. “A personal goal could deal with behavior, a skill they are struggling to master, a procedure they can’t seem to get, or even learning to tie their shoes,” said Mr. Conner. The student pictured here rang the bell as a reward for counting to 100 on his own and learning a list of his sight words. “The students love to ring the bell for their goals, and they really enjoy hearing their peers cheer when they do!” said Mr. Conner.

One little girl was so inspired by her classroom activities during Dr. Seuss Week that she surprised her teacher and classmates by coming to school dressed as the Dr. Seuss character The Cat in the Hat. She is enrolled in Stephanie Roberts’ kindergarten class.

At West Foundation Elementary, staff members learned how to use the school’s new interactive Promethean boards funded by the school’s DoDEA Grant. “We can’t wait to use these with our students,” said Principal Kim Smith. All staff participated in the Wednesday afternoon training after students were released early.

Anyone wanting to purchase the perfect Mother’s Day gift may be interested in a two-day WFISD Foundation fundraiser that will be held next month in partnership with Kendra Scott. Online purchases on April 23 and 24 with the Texas-based jewelry company will benefit the WFISD Foundation. Online purchasers who enter GIVEBACK-13WB at checkout will trigger a 20 percent return of the purchase price to WFISD Foundation.

WFISD seniors seeking careers in a wide range of industries or who show an affinity for athletics or academics may now channel those interests into scholarship applications, which are live now on the WFISD website. Click here to peruse all 27 scholarships available through the WFISD Foundation. A minimum of 45 scholarships will be awarded for the 2020-2021 school year. Eight scholarships are new this year. Scholarships range in value from $250 to $3,000 apiece. Completed applications must be turned in by April 9.

District in Pictures is a weekly publication developed by the WFISD Community Relations department. If you have events, recognitions or classroom activities taking place on your campus that you would like us to feature, please let us know by emailing Ashley Thomas at athomas@wfisd.net or Ann Work Goodrich at awork@wfisd.net. We would love to include you in our weekly district news.

Email: athomas@wfisd.net
Website: www.wfisd.net
Location: 1104 Broad Street, Wichita Falls, TX, USA
Phone: (940)235-1004
Twitter: @WFISDschools