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Secondary Teacher of the Year Announced
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Congratulations 2012-2013 FBISD Teacher of the Year Nancy Trunk, CHS Math Teacher. Best of luck in the next phase of competition.
May 3 Fort Bend ISD hosted its annual Teacher of the Year Banquet. The five secondary finalists were honored. Seated from left to right: Karla Lalendorff AHS, Debra Coleman BHS, Nancy Trunk CHS, Barbara Burnham HHS, and our own Panther, Coach Higgins M.R. Wood Center for Learning.
Coach Higgins was honored that her MRW family bestowed her with their campus teacher of the year (TOY). When she was named a district finalist she was proud to share M.R. Wood with the district. Coach Higgins was humbled by the amazing teachers that were finalists. Mrs. Lalendorff, Mrs. Coleman, and Mrs. Burnham run their campus PALS programs. Coach Higgins had worked with Mrs. Burnham when she was Student Council Sponsor and PALS sponsor. Coach Higgins had gotten to know Mrs. Coleman during FBISD Academic Advisory Council Meetings. She knows there is so much more to all these fine ladies.
Coach Higgins applauds all teachers. She believes teachers do not have to have a "TOY" title to be an awesome teacher. When teachers walk into classrooms, the kids that love them will not care if they have a title or not. Their teaching and kindness will mean so much more.
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Panther Pride
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M.R. Wood is proud to announce that the Fort Bend Education Foundation has awarded five grants to M.R. Wood. Panther applause goes out to: Karen Porter, Coach Higgins, Querubin Castro, Meena Patel, Harold Johnson, Laura Selby, Candace Thorpe, and Stan Perkins.
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Blue Ribbons Around MRW: It's April
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 Thank you to Child Advocates of Fort Bend!
Child Advocates of Fort Bend visited M.R. Wood Tuesday, April 17. Presentations were given to the elementary 1st period, middle school second period, and high school third period. The presenters delivered information dealing with child abuse, legal rights, and consequences. Students interacted throughout the presentation and many questions were asked and answered.
The fantastic presenters were: Fiona Remko (Children's Advocacy Program Director) and Metoyer Martin (CASA Program Director). Assisting them was Casey Davis (Child Advocates Volunteer Services Team Leader). Three cheers for three outstanding women who are making a difference!
M.R. Wood, again, would like to thank Child Advocates of Fort Bend for sharing time and great information with our students.
Child Advocates of Fort Bend: http://www.cafb.org/
WHAT WE DO...
We use specially trained volunteers and staff to advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children through our:
•Court Appointed Special Advocates™ (CASA™) program
•Children's Advocacy Center (The Center)
In addition, we make the public aware of the problem of abuse and neglect through
•Community Outreach / Awareness
•Events
OUR CORE VALUES...
•Child-focused
•Community centered
•Volunteer driven
•Compassionate
•Collaborative
•Influencing change
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Heritage Quilt Squares
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 Beautiful! The quilt squares were designed andf colored by Mrs. Selby's art students. The project is part of MRW's No Place for Hate campaign. Big thank you to Mrs. Selby and Nurse Ontiveros for chairing this project.
Hermosa! Las plazas se han diseñado yf edredón de color por estudiantes de arte la señora Selby. El proyecto forma parte de MRW hay lugar para la campaña de odio. Big gracias a la señora Selby y Ontiveros Enfermera de la presidencia de este proyecto.
漂亮！有色ANDF夫人谢肃方的艺术系学生的被子广场设计。该项目的MRW的地点没有仇恨运动的一部分。非常感谢您夫人谢肃方和护士翁蒂韦罗斯主持这个项目。
सुंदर! रजाई वर्गों श्रीमती Selby कला छात्रों द्वारा andf रंगीन डिजाइन किए गए थे. परियोजना का हिस्सा MRW घृणा अभियान के लिए कोई जगह नहीं है. बिग इस परियोजना की अध्यक्षता करते हुए श्रीमती Selby और नर्स Ontiveros के लिए शुक्रिया.
Maganda! Ang mga mga tumahi parisukat ay dinisenyo andf kulay sa pamamagitan ng mga mag-aaral sa sining ng Mrs Selby. Ang proyekto ay bahagi ng MRW Walang Lugar para sa mga kampanya ng poot. Big salamat sa ang Mrs Selby at nars Ontiveros para chairing sa proyektong ito.
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Students Create Display
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 Health students in action!
Health students created No Place for Hate bulletin boards utilizing the Resolutions of Respect from students and staff. The students created Publisher flyers to promote MRW as No Place for Hate. Thank you to Mrs. Updike and Coach Higgins.
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Green Bay Packer Talks with Students
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 M.R. Wood Gives a Big Panther Thank You to Herb Taylor of the Green Bay Packers.
Top Pic: Mr. Daniels, Mr. Taylor, and Mrs. Smith. Middle Pic: Mr. Taylor and students that wanted to be pictured with Mr. Taylor. Bottom Pic: Mr. Taylor mentoring student.
Herbert Taylor of the Green Bay Packers paid a visit to M. R. Wood Center for Learning for the second year. He stopped by to speak to our students about overcoming obstacles and not quitting when things get difficult. I have known Herbert since elementary and graduated one year before him from Hightower High School. Herb takes great pride in his education and his understanding that playing sports is not the only thing in life. He made sure that he let the students know that success is a mindset and being better is as well.
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Walden Professor Spends Day at MRW
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 Dr. Karine Clay from Walden University and Glencorse Higher Potential for Learning spent time sharing with staff in the morning and through out the day with students. Top Pic: Dr. Clay talks with social skills students. Bottom Left Pic: Dr. Clay talks with staff at staff meeting. Bottom Right Pic: Dr. Clay and Mr. Glasper, MRW Assistant Principal.
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Videoconference with Ohio Students
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 The M.R. Wood Panther Book Club videoconference finale occured March 6 with our partner school in Dayton, Ohio. This activity was promoted by the national Read Around the Planet program which created the match of MRW and TMHS. Pictures: top-MS group, center-HS group, and bottom-screen showing Thurgood Marshall Cougars.
A special thank you to the Thurgood Marshall High School teacher Olivia Trentine for having her students participate.
The books read during book club were chosen according to potential student interest and the potential for rich discussion on social issues and positive interaction. The high school students read Animal Farm by George Orwell. Thank you Coach Higgins for leading the high school group. The middle school students read Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers. Thank you Mrs. Porter, Librarian, for leading the middle school group. Books read in past years were: Catcher in the Rye, Cannery Row, and The Red Pony.
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WATCH WEEK at M.R. Wood
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 Bulletin Board Pictures: Health students created bulletin boards displaying staff and student pledge cards and promotions for healthy living. Each day staff and students participated in different activities. Thursday was dress in the color of your favorite fruit or vegetable. Mrs. Selby promoted grapes and Mrs. Thorpe carrots.  Walk Pictures: M.R. Wood's entire campus participating in a 20 minute walk March 6, 2012. This was one of many activities at M.R. Wood supporting FBISD's WATCH Week. A is for Activity which all programs and grades 1-12 participated. Lynn Glasper, MRW Asst. Principal (in orange), let the MS and HS groups outside and around MRW.
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Butterfly Project: Remember the Children
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 MRW students created these butterflies for the Butterfly Project.
The Butterfly
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone....
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye. For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.
Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942
Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.
Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.
Died in Aushchwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.
(http://www.hmh.org/ed_butterfly3.shtml)
The No Place for Hate sub-committee of the M.R. Wood Wellness Committee chose to particiate in the Butterfly Project with the Houston Holocaust Museum.
1,500,000 innocent children perished in the Holocaust.
In an effort to remember them, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies.
The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2014, for all to remember. The Museum has already collected an estimated 900,000 butterflies.
(http://www.hmh.org/ed_butterfly1.shtml)
A big thank you to Mrs. Selby, Art Teacher, and Mrs. Porter, Librarian, for chairing the project and making this happen.
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Mr. Madden: Holocaust Program
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 Mr. Madden, CHS History Teacher
Mr. Madden will be presenting this information and more at Clements High School on the evening of Feb, 8, 2012. Holocaust survivors will also be speaking.
M.R. Wood would like to thank Clements history teacher Mike Madden for sharing his Holocaust Docudrama with our students. The entire school assembled for this wonderfully presented, yet heartbreaking depiction of the Holocaust created by Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
Mr. Madden introduced the program, emphasizing the destruction caused by hate. The docudrama had the students and staff watching the effects caused by the Third Reich and hate. Mr. Madden accepted audience questions and then ended the presentation mid-sentence, not because the questioning was finished, but because the school day ended.
The M.R. Wood Wellness Committee, No Place for Hate sub-committee thank: Mr. Madden for his time and efforts, the staff and students for their interest and cooperation, and a special thanks to Mrs. Porter, MRW Librarian, for arranging Mr. Madden and his program.
MICHAEL MADDEN is a history teacher at Clements High School, in the Fort Bend Independent School District in Texas. His multi-media docudrama about the Holocaust earned him a scholarship to participate in a study institute in Israel and Poland in 1998. During his trip, he met Hannah Pick, Anne Frank’s close childhood friend, who asked that he be the “ambassador” to her life. Inspired by her words, Mr. Madden has worked with his students to incorporate his presentation into a “mini-museum” known as the Hall of Remembrance. The transformed 155-foot hallway outside his classroom showcases over 200 student generated projects related to the Holocaust. Mr. Madden speaks of the need to adapt his teaching methods to the changing teen culture. “The past must continually take on a new voice so that the present can better hear, understand and apply these lessons to the future.” In 2002, the Anti-Defamation League helped to bring the Hall of Remembrance and the testimony of Houston area Holocaust survivors to the community at-large. Over the past five years more than 5,500 students and community members have come to their Outreach Program to learn about the dangers of hatred, bigotry and racism through the lessons of the Holocaust (http://www.annefrank.com/fileadmin/safa/madden07.htm).
The attached related document "Introduction to the Holocaust" is available on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website at http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
Related Document
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Ofc. Johnston: Sex and the Law
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 Officer Johnston, Sugar Land Police Dept.
M.R Wood would like to thank Officer Johnston of the Sugar Land Police Department for volunteering to speak with our students about laws surrounding age of consent and other topics that affect teen populations.
Officer Johnston instructed in the social skills classes. All alternative school students are enrolled in a social skills course. Officer Johnston spent 2 class periods informing students about the Texas Penal Code and injected Sugar Land City Ordinances when asked questions by students. He has been visiting M.R. Wood a couple times a year for approximately 6 years (and is always welcome).
Big thank you's to: Mrs. Thorpe, DAEP HS Social Skills teacher; Mr. Daniels, DAEP/DEP HS & MS Social Skills teacher; and Mrs. Updike, DEP teacher, for allowing Officer Johnston into their classes and supporting this program.
The program began between Officer Johnston and Coach Higgins. They had worked together prior to Coach Higgins joining the M.R. Wood staff from Student Support Services. Coach Higgins recognized the positive rapport Officer Johnston built with students and knew the program Officer Johnson and she had built could greatly benefit her students.
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Panther Book Club
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 The books Animal Farm and Lockdown are being read in lunch time reading groups.
2011-2012
Read Around the Planet Book Club is currently in progress. On March 6, 2012, M.R. Wood will be hosting a videoconference at 9:30am; the students will be discussing their books with Thurgood Marshall High School Cougars in Dayton, Ohio.
The high school lunch time book group is reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. The students are meeting in Coach Higgins' room; while eating lunch, the students are listening to the audiobook while following along in the book.
The middle school lunch time book club is reading Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers. The students are meeting in Mr. Connolly's room and Ms. Porter, librarian, is facilitating the middle school group. The middle school students are reading together and their plan is to produce a group book trailer.
Read Around the Planet
M R Wood Center for Learning will participate in Read Around the Planet again this year. This program matches up schools across the country to promote communication, reading, and learning about other schools in this world. In the past, M R Wood Center for Learning has been matched with schools in New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. It is always exciting to find out just who we will video conference with each year, not only meeting other students like us, but different as well. Part of the appeal of this endeavor is NOT letting the other school know that we are an alternative campus as this sometimes sets up preconceived notions. At the end of each presentation, each school asks questions about the other school. Each time, our partner school has always been surprised that we are an alternative school. M R Wood Center for Learning students have always created exemplary presentations and have been excellent representatives of our school and district.
This year we also hope to have new book clubs forming every 9 weeks or so for middle school groups and high school groups, pulling in as many students as possible. In the past, the books chosen have always been one of the great classics. Along with that, the librarian would also like to explore the current award winning books from the list of Tayshas Awards, Lone Star Awards, Coretta Scott King Awards, Pura Belpre Awards, Printz Awards, and YALSA. Conducting video conferences with other book clubs at other campuses here in Fort Bend ISD is another goal for this year.
Related Document
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Congratulations MRW's Teacher of the Year
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 Rt to Lft: Justo Robinson, Principal; Trudy Higgins-Edison; Ed Connolly; and Lynn Glasper, Assistant Principal
Congratulations Coach Higgins on being chosen as the M.R. Wood (MRW) Center for Learning Teacher of the Year. Coach Higgins is in her sixth year teaching Health and Physical Education at MRW, her eleventh year for FBISD, and her nineteenth year of teaching.
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FBISD Foundation 2011 Grant Recipient
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Playaways for Reluctant Readers - Mrs. Stinemetz
Through the generosity of the Fort Bend Education Foundation, M R Wood Center for Learning earned a $1,500 grant to encourage and promote reading. The Playaway will read the book to the student while he/she either just listens or follows along in the book. The purpose of this grant was to show students that they could and can enjoy books and to encourage them to read. Students are evaluated on each book by taking a quiz or doing a book report on the book that they listened to. Students could also choose to act out a scene for the class or tape a scene to be shown the class. Students will be asked to write a summary of the book. For our lower-level readers, they could also be asked to draw/sketch a summary of the book. As the students find more confidence in their reading, the students will be able to choose books that are at a higher-reading level which will indicate the strategies for using the Playaways are successful.
Thank you Mrs. Stinemetz for receiving this grant.
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FBISD Foundation 2011 Grant Recipient
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I Can Flip in All My Classes! - Mrs. Porter
The Fort Bend Education Foundation’s mission is to provide opportunities to enrich and enhance the quality of education for all FBISD students. The purpose of grants to teachers as well as campus grants are to enhance, promote and augment classroom instruction in areas not allotted in regular budgetary funds or not eligible for reimbursement from other sources.
The Fort Bend Education Foundation granted the M R Wood library a $3,000 grant so that M R Wood students could “flip” in all of their classes here at the M R Wood Center for Learning.
With the grant monies, the librarian was able to order fiction, non-fiction, and reference books. These books provide resources for speeches in Speech class, research in Social Skills classes, meet the needs of the students in their desire for pleasurable reading material while supplementing any history or popular culture research. These resources are also absolutely necessary for students who have discipline issues regarding computers and their discipline program does not allow them to access computers in any way on campus.
The Flip cameras add the technology element that intrigue the students, supplement their technology knowledge, and make what some students consider to be hum-drum more exciting as they are allowed to think outside the box to create tools for learning. The Flip cameras will allow student promotion of materials in the library and produce creative projects that can give real-world experience (i.e., advertising campaign, political campaigns, fundraising). Operating a flip camera will still allow the non-computer access students a way to be creative as well as be a part of the behind-the-scenes planning.
The Fort Bend Education Foundation’s grant has enriched learning for all the students at M R Wood Center for Learning.
Thank you to Mrs. Porter for receiving this grant.
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FBISD Foundation 2011 Grant Recipient
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Wii Play and We Learn - Coach Higgins
"Increased aerobic activity opportunities in the school setting may increase overall academic performance, encourage positive health habits and improve immediate and future overall health" (Wittberg, Cottrell, Davis, & Northrup, 2010, p.284). Students will have 10- to 45-minute Wii workouts based on time in class and rotation of use between students. The Wii will assist in the adherence to the physical and social TEKS (Foundations of Personal Fitness, Individual Sports, Team Sports, grades 6-8 PE, elementary PE). The Wii will provide training; fitness testing is state mandated for all students in grades 3-12.
I expect that students will improve their fitness levels (Wii age) and have a positive fitness experience at school (school connectedness). The Wii program empowers students by collecting their fitness data, setting personal goals, and offering numerous opportunities to engage in diverse activities. "In light of the potential positive effect of physical activity and fitness on academics and healthy weight found in this study, advocating for increased time on physical activity is probably warranted" (Chomitz et al., 2009, p.36).
Chomitz, V.R., Slining, M.M., McGowan, R.J., Mitchell, S.E., Dawson, G.F. & Hacker, K.A. (2009). Is there a relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement? Positive results from public school children in the Northeastern United States. Journal of School Health, 79(1), 30-37.
Wittberg, R., Cottrell, L.A., Davis, C.L., & Northrup, K.L. (2010). Aerobic Fitness Thresholds Associated with Fifth Grade Academic Achievement. American Journal of Health Education, 41(5), 284-291.
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Art Competitions
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M. R. Wood students are encouraged to participate in various art competitions. Several students have won contests throughout the years and we look forward to more success. We will be entering the Celebrating Art contest this school year. The deadline for this contest is November 29th. We will also be preparing for The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Art Competition. Entries will be due January 6th. We are looking forward to a year full of art achievements!
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MRW students during weekly group talk time took 5 minutes to discuss and sign their own Resolutions of Respect to show MRW is No Place for Hate.
