The Pirate Treasure

Game Room Winners

Our amazing students worked so hard on their last CBA test that their names were put into a hopper to be drawn for a chance to go to the game room with a friend. They enjoyed playing their electronics and board games. When you work hard, you play hard here at The Pack. We are so proud of every single student here. They did their best and worked hard to crush these CBA’s. Until next time!

Improv

We had the privilege here at The Pack on Tuesday, October 24th to watch an Improv performance from the actors at Duck Duck Moose. Our very own Mr. Heard invited his friends to do a little comedy show for our students. Students and staff took a little break from working hard to enjoy some laughter. They were so funny! The company interacted with the students by asking them questions: What is your favorite food and what do they need help with? The company then created a performance with those answers. It was a great experience for everyone.

Pep Rally

Congratulations to our Pep Rally winners for our final pep rally of the season. They are shown in the photo below with our amazing Superhero Principal Mrs. Keoun and Superhero Assistant Principal Mrs. McElyea.

Mrs. Brantley’s PTJH Web Communications classes are working with LiDar scanners in Polycam to make 3D scans of the students in class. This was a fun way to participate in Red Ribbon Week Twin Day.

With these 3D image scans, students can then drop their digital double into their own virtual space. Excellent work, Pirates!

Red Ribbon Week is underway and our PTJH Student Council created this year's theme days.

Monday, we “Rocked Crocs not Drugs” and on Tuesday we “Doubled up on the fight against drugs” by twinning! We also had “Weird and Wacky without Drugs” (where students dressed weird and wacky) on Wednesday, “Old enough to stay off drugs” was Thursday (dress like an old person), and “Put drugs to rest” on Friday (Pajama Day). Overall, it’s an exciting week on campus as we remind our students that drug free is the way to be! Great job, PTJH Student Council!

This month, PTJH would to highlight a group on campus that continues to make a difference in the lives of our students each day.

Our 8th grade Science department is Ms. Clarice Bledsoe, Mrs. Kimberly Snapp, and Ms. Kenna Cook. These outstanding teachers can’t help but stand out as they are some of our hardest workers on campus when it comes to helping our students grow. They love their students and will not rest until they all succeed. PTJH appreciates you 8th Grade Science Team. Keep up the stellar work!

Genius Hour

Birch Elementary School is known for its fabulous implementation of their world renowned, Genius Hour program. Each year, volunteers from across the area are invited to lead our students in various clubs that teach them a plethora of skills. Nearly 30 clubs met to educate our students on skills such as scouting, dance, crafting, public speaking, and so much more! A huge thank you to the many community leaders that have impacted our campus through this endeavor.

Game Room for CBA Reward

We are known at Birch First as a campus who works hard and plays hard. Our students showed tremendous effort while completing their first CBA of the year. The Birch First teachers do an amazing job of encouraging our students to work diligently to achieve their goals on not only their CBA’s but any goal they may have. Several students were nominated to participate in the Game Room for their amazing work ethic and success.

Red Ribbon Week

Birch Elementary started off Red Ribbon week by hearing from Denise Day of the East Texas Council on Alcohol and Drug Awareness. Our students gained impactful knowledge on the importance of remaining drug free in order to achieve their life goals. The Birch Pirates know that they are destined to shine bright and change the world!

ExCEL has another graduate, the second for 2023-2024. Please join us in celebrating with Imelda Herrera. Imelda came to ExCEL her junior year.

Due to some personal circumstances, she had fallen behind on her credits and needed to catch up. When asked what she liked most about being at ExCEL, like most, she said it was her ability to work at a much faster pace than the traditional classroom, especially since she could work at home and during school breaks. She said she honestly couldn't think of one thing that she didn't like about the program.

Now that she has graduated, Imelda wants to pursue a career as an esthetician. She plans to attend The Salon Professional Academy in Whitehouse, Texas. She is determined to open her own salon and be her own boss.

Imelda describes herself as an introvert/extrovert. She says she can be quite timid and shy but under the right circumstances and with the right people she can be quite social. ExCEL teacher, Jennifer Wilbur, says she definitely saw the introverted side of Imelda while she was here at ExCEL. However, she believes her quiet nature kept her focused on her work and her determination to graduate. Imelda says her best quality is that she cares about people and how she makes them feel. In her spare time she likes to write about spirituality and how people can better themselves. It is her long-term boyfriend that inspires her to be her best self.

Though the road was long and hard for Imelda and she had her setbacks, she successfully reached the goal of being a high school graduate. She is a fine example of endurance and determination. We wish her well.

Pine Tree High School sadly says goodbye to Principal Cleo Wadley this week.

Dr. Wadley is leaving his position at Pine Tree to take care of a family member with health problems after seven years at PTISD, telling students and faculty alike it has been an honor to serve the district and the people here on the PTHS campus.

Superintendent Steve Clugston made the announcement Monday afternoon, telling staff that Dr. Wadley would be leaving on October 27th. He praised the outgoing principal for his time at PTISD and thanked him for tireless service and a willingness to go the extra mile for the students and staff. With Dr. Wadley leaving, Beeper Kraus will take over principal duties with Angel Rocha stepping into Kraus’ position as Assistant Principal.

Even with all of the changes, PTHS faculty and staff remain extremely busy with one nine weeks behind us and Thanksgiving and Christmas break on the horizon.

UIL Academics is in full swing and will be hosting a mammoth tournament at PTHS on Saturday, November 4. Teams from all over East Texas will be converging on the high school campus to participate in a host of events. Pine Tree is known for its excellence in hosting UIL Academic events, and this one should be no different. Terri Davis and Lee Branson are overseeing the event which will feature hundreds of youth from a host of districts. And, best thing of all, Pine Tree is one of the leading contenders for the overall championship, boasting 30 to 40 students who are capable of winning the events in which they compete.

The boys cross country team participated in regionals on Monday and finished fourth, earning the team a spot in the state championship meet in a couple of weeks. This is the first time a Pine Tree boys cross country team has made state as a whole team since 1992. This group of young men has worked hard all year and will represent Pine Tree very well at state.

Congratulations to Coach Kyle Burns, Assistant Coach Emily Bachman and the team for doing well.

Seventeen choir students, under the direction of Danielle Warren, have advanced to regional competition. Warren and her students annually do well in competition, but this year has been better than most and will allow some students to reach the top of their competition bracket. The singers will be competing shortly for higher honors, and Warren believes they are at a level where they will be able to garner a significant number of medals.

The PTHS band, The Pride, is also reaching the pinnacle of its competition season, and will shortly compete for a spot in the state championship, which takes place in early November. Band directors Mark Perry and John Loanzon, along with Color Guard director Dr. Jared Cronk, have the band and color guard in perfect precision heading into this crucial stage of competition. The band has earned a host of honors in preliminary meets and is now ready to catapult itself into a spot for a state championship.

PT football defeated Hallsville in an exciting game Friday and will now play Mount Pleasant and Texas High for a spot in the playoffs. Should the team win both, they could be as high as a number two seed, but one victory will assure Pine Tree a trip to the Metroplex in a few weeks for a first round playoff game. PTHS defeated Hallsville by blocking not one but two field goal attempts from close range to end the contest.

Volleyball season came to a close Friday with a loss to Hallsville, and now the girls athletic front turns to basketball, powerlifting and soccer. Those sports will start with basketball hitting the floor for tournament and pre-district action in just a couple of weeks. Then powerlifting and soccer kick off their seasons and have the bulk of their competitions after Christmas.

When you add classwork, other projects and a Fall Festival on Saturday to the mix, it is extremely busy at PTHS and shows no chance of getting any easier until late May. But, students and staff would not have it any other way. That means they are learning, becoming productive citizens ready to take on the world and will bring more and more recognition to the Pine Tree High School campus-already noted for being an East Texas leader.

Students at Pine Tree Middle School are having so much fun this fall. This month we completed our first 9 weeks of school and it seemed to fly past us. This week we welcome some fun days honoring Red Ribbon Week and being drug free.

Our school hosted a dodgeball game last week and many teams joined in for the Friday Night Fun. Our girl's division are featured below.

Last week several of our students showed off some of their hard work around the world, by participating in Global Maker Day 2023. We featured our 5th grade math classes clocks with math facts and some of our ecosystems students had made in science class after visiting the zoo.

Our 6th graders featured some of the “artifacts” that might be found on the Titanic after reading, Iceberg by Jennifer Nielsen which is enriched in information regarding the Titanic. We watched other schools from around the world make things and some shared several maker challenges for students to build or make. We connected virtually and watched makers around the world share different projects, learning spaces and creations, coding, 3D designs, art lessons and more. Parents of our CEER students visited the school to view several project students have made recently for our CEER night.

Our Book Fair begins October 30 which will include our Fine Arts Night on Thursday, November 2 at 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

The Elementary ABU boys engaged in a life lesson of how to tie a necktie. The students were all in with Mr. Ben Phillips, Education Aide, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the learning process.

Teaching our youth a basic skill such as how to tie a tie helps them learn confidence in themselves as well as learning a skill they will have for the rest of their lives. Incorporating hands-on lessons that will benefit the students now and in the future is an integral part of the ABU purpose. Kudos to Ms. Dana Taylor, ABU teacher and the Elementary ABU team for empowering our students in such ways!

Daniel Moreno,11th grade, shared his perspective on the one thing he will remember about the PACE R3 Program that will help him for the rest of his life with the following statement: “One thing I will remember that will stay with me is grit.

Because there have been days I wanted to give up and quit but I remember Mr. Manasco talking about not giving up. And my morale goes up. ‘I can do this!’. I tell myself over and over again, ‘I am resilient!’.

The high school UIL Academics team kicked off their season by taking 1st Place Sweepstakes at the Mount Pleasant Tiger Classic Invitational.

Students and teams earning 1st place medals include:

Accounting Team – Ethan Smith, Adrian Juarez Vega, Nicolas Ruiz, Steve Nunez, Erik Guzman

Ethan Smith – 1st place Accounting

Computer Science Team – Jamie Mayfield, Cason Stafford, Ada Venegas

Jamie Mayfield – 1st place Computer Science

Science Team – Cread Ray, Seth McFarland, Alex Chen, Emily Willadson, Eryka Furlong

Cread Ray – 1st place Science

Jennifer Chen – 1st place News Writing, Feature Writing, Editorial Writing

Damil Arogo – 1st place Spelling

The UIL Academics team will host other schools at our first annual “Walk the Plank” Fall Invitational on November 4th.

The kids had so much fun at the pumpkin patch. They decorated their own pumpkins and walked the spooky trail.

In Mrs. Tudor's class, we have been working on learning our letters and letter sounds and how to write our names. We have started working on writers' workshop and we do many different fine motor activities. In our class, we focus on academic goals and Mrs. Tudor also wants to ensure all her students feel loved and cared for!

Mrs. Stroman's class is working towards learning our letters, sounds, and sight words. Our goal is to work towards becoming good readers, writers, and mathematicians.

We are Characters Costume Parade

Friday, October 28, 2 pm

Fall Fest @ Pirate Stadium

Saturday, October 28,

3:00-6:00 pm

Nature Walk

Classes walk the Boorman trail for Texas Arbor Day

Friday, November 4